Sweet Temptation
by CokeAndRum
Summary: Two extraordinary teenage girls transfer to Xavier's School For the Gifted, and find themselves attracting the affections of two of the most unlikely and out of bounds individuals, their teachers. Can the delicate relationship between them turn to love?
1. Chapter 1: A Warm Welcome

The TV announcer looked as calm as they always do, with a backdrop of a secluded research facility him. "Researchers at this highly regarded Government lab have only more failure to report, as attempts to find a 'cure' for mutation remains elusive. As promising as the drug seemed, it only suppressed effects for a few hours at a time..." Katie's mother shut the TV off, suppressing a sigh. At least her daughter was transferring to a private school later that day. It was so tiring, really, never being able to go to the beach without having to deal with all the power outages. Hopefully her daughter would return a bit easier to manage. Just as Katie's mother tossed the TV remote onto a nearby sofa, the doorbell rang. Sighing once more, she walked wearily to the door. As she began to open the door there came the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs.

Katie appeared at the foot of the stairs, her red tinted brown hair was down and she had a brush in her hand. "Who's at the door?" she inquired curiously, then immediately began to pelt her mother with questions "It's just barely two forty, it can't be Nicole already... she's way early... doesn't she know that the transportation to Xavier's doesn't come 'til three o'clock!" Never the less, when Denise opened the door, there Nicole was, standing on the door step, smiling nervously with her hand on a huge trunk of her belongings.

"Er... hi... my mom just... took off so..." she trailed off, looking expectantly at Denise, "Um... can I come in? It's... kind of wet out here..." it was of course, as is accustomed to New England, raining, and given the fact that it had been a rather muggy day for the first of August, the rain came down in torrents of warm droplets.

"Of course you can come in," Denise said, though she looked a bit nervous as to how Nicole had managed to transport such a large trunk herself. She wasn't a close-minded person, exactly; it was just that all these odd things unnerved her. Just as she had suspected, the trunk slowly and with a good amount of shuddering, lifted off of the ground, floating inside behind the girl.

"So, how exactly are we getting to Xavier's, mum? I mean, I know there's transportation and all... but bus? car? helicopter?" Katie badgered, taking Nicole's coat very carefully by a dry spot.

Nicole smiled dreamily, "I hope it's a helicopter... I've never been in one before..." she mumbled, going to sit on the couch.

Katie grinned, laughing softly and joining Nicole on the couch," I doubt it 'Cole, why would they come in a helicopter just to pick up some new students? We're nothing special." she chuckled.

Denise, who had been listening in on the conversation, cringed. _'That's what she thinks... nothing special, ha'_. Oh yes... they were definitely "special" all right, in a freakish sort of way. She knew that this was her own daughter she was thinking about but, she couldn't help it, the two girls were just plain weird. But just as the girls were beginning to gush about how excited they were about going to a high-ranking private school, a loud sound like that of huge engines whistling cut the conversation short. " What in the-" Denise yelled, yanking back the curtains.

The girls whirled around, and the descending of the behemoth of a jet on Katie's front lawn was reflected in their wide, awestruck eyes. "Even better than a helicopter..." Katie breathed, as Nicole nodded along silently.

Denise felt rather faint. Really, whatever had she done to deserve this? It had always been hard enough talking to the neighbors ("my daughter was walking by six months" "by then my daughter could speak complex sentences" _"at six months, my daughter electrified our cat."_) ... Did she really need a jet ruining the grass?

The girls couldn't help but ogle as the roaring of the engines stopped abruptly. "W-why do you think they brought a jet?" Nicole breathed, staring at the huge letter "X" painted on the side of the sleek, black jet.

Katie shook her head in disbelief. "No idea." she squeaked, "But it. Is. So. Cool." As the two girls continued to stare in rising excitement and a small tingle of fear, there came a banging on the door.

"That's impossible!" whimpered Denise, " didn't even _see_ anyone get out of that Jet!"

Nicole wrinkled her nose, "No wonder Denise, there's all of that fog... weird... it just sort of... _appeared_."

The banging on the door turned to normal knocking, and there were angry voices on the other side of the door, one female, and the other male. "YOU CAN'T JUST GO BUSTING DOORS DOWN LOGAN! GET BACK TO THE JET!"

"I DIDN"T BUST THE DOOR DOWN! I MERELY KNOCKED!"

"KNOCKED! HA! YOU PRACTICALLY HAD THE DOOR QUIVERING IN IT'S HINGES!"

Katie dashed by her mother to the door, twitching slightly as she grabbed hold of the metal doorknob. Opening it, she was rather surprised to find a most unlikely looking group standing on her doorstep. The woman who had been knocking smiled pleasantly at her, gently kicking the tall, rugged looking man next to her until he smiled too. There was a very nice looking bald man in a wheelchair, with a rather more sketchy man in sunglasses standing at the back. "Hello...?" Katie offered, uncertainly.

"Yes hello we're-" the woman began pleasantly, but she was cut off.

"Hey Katie..." it was Nicole; her head was poking around the corner. When the rest of her body was in view she continued, "What's going..." she stopped speaking again. Her eyes traveled over each of the odd looking characters on the doorstep. From the friendly black woman, the one with whom Katie had been speaking, who stood out due to her pure white hair, all the way to the sketchy man at the back. "On..." she finished softly, her eyebrows furrowed suspiciously as her eyes fell onto the rugged man; he frowned, touching his temple and squeezing his eyes shut tightly.

The man in the wheelchair took this moment of silence to say something. " You two are Katie and Nicole then, are you?" Katie nodded, looking nervous. The man smiled, "I'm Charles Xavier, may we come in? I think Scott is getting soaked..." he said warmly. The man wearing the sunglasses smiled in an almost sarcastic manner. Without getting an answer, the rugged man took a step in and shook the water from his leather jacket.

Katie avoided the wet patches on the floor and went to grab the ever-present and ever-filled cookie jar, thinking that at least she should try to be polite. "Have a cookie," she offered the jar to the rugged man first, as he was closer.

Denise (lurking in the background) looked even more alarmed to see the four strangers in her kitchen, and torn between running away and staying to protect her daughter (not that the girl really needed it). Running away, in the guise of doing laundry, won out.

Nicole on the other hand, after shooting Katie an entirely flabbergasted look, replied "Um... so... I'm assuming that you guys are here to take us to..." she paused as she watched the slightly scary, rugged man light a thick cigar. Both irritated and fascinated; she continued, "school... um... " She watched him take a puff from the cigar. "Uh... I'd rather not have you smoking..." she began, but a threatening look from the man shut her up momentarily. Suddenly, the cigar was jerked from his fingers. It floated in front of him then promptly put it self out, and soared into the inner pocket of his jacket. Nicole glared at the man, "Smoking is a disgusting habit. I suggest you give it up." she said coolly. The man with the shades, Scott, snickered.

The rugged man looked slightly surprised, as though he really hadn't been expecting that. "She did tell you to stop, you know." Katie commented, deciding that the man wasn't cool enough to have a cookie after all and offering it to the sole woman.

The man in the wheelchair was also smiling, looking amused. "I can see why your parents want to send you to my school", he said kindly. The rugged man (who still did not offer his name) "harrumphed", though he did not attempt to take out another cigar.

"Well, I'm not sure why Nicole is going... she isn't exactly the Honor's student..." Katie babbled, putting the cookie jar away after giving one to Scott, who smiled and pocketed it.

Xavier raised his eyebrows in almost surprise. " Indeed..." he mumbled, looking slightly perturbed.

Nicole glared at Katie, blushing while the rugged man smirked, " Shut up!" she hissed poking Katie in the side. Immediately afterward she jumped back, squeaking. She sucked on her finger gingerly, "Ouch!" she whined softly. Katie grinned cheekily.

The woman spoke again, looking shocked and stepping forward. "You mean you don't know-" she started.

"Shush!" Charles whispered glancing at Katie, " Your mother is listening to us." he murmured. "That's why we're going to be leaving now," Charles continued, gesturing to the rugged man. "Logan, why don't you go and get the girls' things?"

Logan, as the man was apparently named, grumbled to himself, but complied. "So why did you come in the... jet-thing?" Nicole inquired, as they ducked through the rain towards it.

"Because its too far away to drive," The woman commented, as the space-ship-esque walkway descended. Katie shivered, imagining the sort of power it took to run such a jet.

Charles smiled kindly, turning around to face Katie. " Don't worry, our jet is resistant to... people with gifts of your nature." he said softly. Relieved, Katie followed him up the ramp and into the coolest jet that she had ever seen. Everything was high-tech and bleeping and whirring, and for once something wasn't going haywire in her presence.

"Whoa…" Nicole gushed, expressing the way Katie felt. " This is wicked cool!" she mumbled, running a hand along one of the comfy looking luxury airplane-style chairs.

Katie plopped into one of the seats, still marveling at all the electronics that were working perfectly fine. Nicole looked more reluctant to sit down, certain there was more cool things around that she couldn't see. "Look, here comes Logan with the bags." the woman commented, lending a hand with Nicole's rather massive trunk.

"Nicole, why did you bring so much stuff?" Katie asked, at the size difference between her suitcase and the trunk.

"Because it's all stuff I need..." Nicole tried to justify. Scott snickered again, apparently not the talkative sort.

"Like what kinds of stuff? A small killer whale?" Katie retorted, raising an eyebrow.

"No!" Nicole defended, plopping down beside her in a chair and began ticking off things on her fingers, " Like, clothing, toiletries, pencils, paper, notebooks, books, a bag of twizzlers, a box of milk duds, skittles, and some colored pencils, and some watercolors, and-" as she continued the items on the list began to steadily become more and more useless.

Logan smirked, lounging in the seat diagonal from Nicole, " And a television, and a lap top, and a pink polka dotted giraffe..." he teased.

Katie laughed outright. "Nicole does love her pink polka dotted giraffes..."

Nicole didn't look half as amused. "For your information, I do not have a TV, or a laptop. and my giraffe is blue and striped!" This, of course, only made them laugh harder.

Scott, walking by them to a seat behind Logan's, would have rolled his eyes at them if they had been able to tell. "You might want to buckle up," he commented instead. "Takeoff time."

Looking nervous, Nicole and Katie buckled their seat belts, Katie jerking it tightly around her. Nicole glared at Katie, " I'm going to kill you when we get there, and I hope you know that..." she muttered under her breath loud enough for Katie to hear.

A deep chuckle sounded from the depths of Logan's chair. She blushed once more. " Stupid... stupid... Logan... what kind of name is that... heh... just like Logan airport..." she mumbled in a flustered embarrassed manner.

Katie giggled quietly, " I'd like to see anyone try and land a plane on him Colie..."

Nicole made a face, unsure of exactly why she was so very irritated by the non-airport Logan. Katie ignored the face her friend was making, entirely used to it. She was looking for the woman, wondering exactly what hadn't been able to be said in front of her mother.

Nicole shrugged at her friend. "I have no idea," she whispered.

Katie shivered. "I hate it when you do that... its so... creepy!"

Nicole made another face. "Like you sticking your fingers in outlets isn't creepy."

Katie blanched, " How did you know I did that!" she squealed. Nicole made yet another face, grinning and tapping her temple in a quite literal, know-it-all manner. Katie scowled, " It's still cree--PYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" she screamed out right as the jet jerked into instant motion like a roller coaster, going from 0 to 60 in 2.5 seconds.

Logan's loudly, hoarse laughter could barely be heard over Katie's shrieks. Nicole shut her eyes tight, cringing at the shrill sound it hurt her ears... "Oww! ow STOP!" she yelled. What happened next made things work, the lights in the jet flickered as Nicole covered her ears, trying to block out the sound. But it was no use, Katie's mind was screaming too ' I HATE HEIGHTS! GOING TO FAST EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!'

Logan was still laughing as he turned around, leaned over to where they were sitting, and (none too gently) slapped Katie on the cheek (ignoring the shock he got in return). Her scream cut off abruptly, as she snapped out of it and glared at him, sweat standing out on her face. The lights went back to normal as well, as Nicole's mental anguish stopped.

There was a brief awkward silence. "Your welcome." he commented, before settling back into his own seat. Katie shot him a glare, looking as though she was considering seeing if he was immune to her.

Sighing with relief, Nicole slumped against her chair as cold sweat began to sprout on her own face. Feeling weaker, she turned to Katie who still looked utterly scandalized. "You know when you scream like that it screws everything up don't you?" she mumbled rubbing her temples so hard it was as if she were trying to reach her brain.

Katie blushed, "Sorry..." she mumbled looking uncomfortable and slightly guilty, "I had forgotten... I didn't mean to...are you alright?" she said abruptly. They hadn't noticed but the flight was much smoother once one got over the shock of how fast the jet had taken off.

Nicole smiled and nodded, " 'm fine..." she mumbled.

They both all looked up in surprise as Xavier's voice sounded from the front of the jet, " We should be arriving in a few minutes.." he murmured softly...

Katie raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Seriously? That was really quick... how fast were we going?" she asked, puzzled.

"Too fast to think about." Scott commented dryly from his seat, as though the antics of the flight had not perturbed him in the least. Nicole giggled suddenly, perhaps from catching a stray thought of Katie's, perhaps from whatever was going on in her own warped little mind.

"So, what is this school like?" Katie asked, hoping for an answer.

"You'll see," Logan replied, sounding far too amused for this to be a good thing.

- - -

After about fifteen minutes of mock polite patience, the girls were practically glued to the windows of the jet. "OOooohh... wow... its huge!" Katie whispered, eyeing the grounds and the huge mansion with awe.

"It must be super old..." mumbled Nicole as she examined the thick layer of green ivy that covered almost half of the school. Charles smiled at their enthusiasm.

"Yes, it is. I think that you will enjoy it here" he replied, "Oh, and by the way, all of us are your teachers here at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters... so there will be no need for introductions.." he smiled in an almost fatherly fashion.

Nicole ogled at him for a moment at the increasingly odd group, "Really? Weird..." Nicole stated. _I wonder what Logan teaches...Gym no doubt... he seems the type who likes to look up girls gym shorts when their doing the warm ups... stupid pervert.._

As the jet made a much smoother landing than it had taken off, the woman emerged from the cockpit, smiling kindly at them. "I'm sorry, I don't think I introduced myself earlier. My name is Ororo Monroe." She held out a hand to them, which only Nicole took. Katie was a bit afraid of making the woman's hair stand up any higher. They filed out of the jet, Logan somehow ending up in-between Katie and Nicole, with Scott taking up the rear. Katie resisted the urge to give the rugged scary man a really hard jolt, though she would have liked to.

There were at least fifteen students in that entry hall, and all of them were acting decidedly un-normal. A boy was walking around playing with a lighter, one girl had an extremely odd complexion, dark green and she wasn't wearing any clothing what so ever. A young boy, maybe 6, or 7 hung upside-down from the ceiling from his feet, which were bare. Nicole screamed as a girl near by ran right through her. This place was a mad house! A hiding place for all of the mutants! Why hadn't Charles called the police! This was insane! Her parents had always been telling her that mutants were bad news...

Charles chuckled. "Children, Children!" he called their attention. All of the people of varying ages stopped abruptly, looking as if they were about to be put to death, fear in their face. Charles smiled, "Off to your rooms now... you know that this sort of behavior is not allowed... even if all of the teachers are absent.." All of the kids, wearing similar expressions of guilt, trudged up a grand staircase and out of site.

"Stupid Kids.." Logan growled, gripping a cigar between his teeth and lighting it. Nicole twitched.

Katie was rather more surprised and less afraid, at least until she saw a rather scary rubber-child stretching out his arm some ten feet long. She twitched, "ew. rubber" she hissed to under her breath, before Scott poked her in the back to keep her moving. They were going into an antique-looking wooden study, that seemed perfectly normal until one of the walls whooshed out, revealing a stainless steel hallway.

"But... but... I'm not like them!" Nicole exclaimed, echoing what her parents had always told her.

"I'm normal!" Katie looked a bit afraid as well, nodding along with her friend. Logan just laughed at them, pushing them through the door. "Normal my ass."

The two girls walked in cautiously. _What was this place? Where they going to be experimented on like in those Science Fiction movies? Dissected and examined from the inside out?_ Nicole shuddered.

"Stop thinking those things!" she hissed to Katie, who twitched, having forgotten that Nicole could tap into her thoughts whenever she liked. "You're scaring me..." Nicole mumbled softly, not wanting Logan to hear.

"Sorry..." she whispered, examining the hallway walls and the long, almost never ending hallway.

"This way please," Charles' voice echoed down the hall towards them (he was up at the front), and they followed him into another whooshing door. An elevator... they all ambled in fitting, not so comfortably inside. Scott's back was squashing Katie into the wall of the elevator, Charles' wheel chair had rolled over Logan's foot causing him to knock Ororo into Nicole, who practically toppled onto Charles' lap.

He laughed. "Sorry, this elevator isn't made for quite so many people." he stated, allowing Nicole to perch on the arm of his wheelchair in order to make what little room was left for the others to stand. The elevator rose and opened up to reveal a rather comfortingly normal looking room with bookshelves, a chalkboard, and a desk that looked very expensive with a number of bits and bobs on it. Xavier let Nicole off, and wheeled himself away so that he was sitting behind it.

He looked the girls both straight in the eye. "You two may think that you're normal, but from what I've seen I'm quite sure that you are as un-normal as you can get. You are mutants girls, and this school..." he motioned to all that surrounded them, " it a safe haven for us, where mutant children can be free to learn with away from the pressure of humans on them... Now, I can look into your minds and find out what you can do. But I'd like you to tell me." He continued, still looking them in the eye.

Katie squirmed, and spoke first, Nicole still in denial. "Electricity, mostly..." She held up a hand and concentrated, making a small flicker of what looked like lightning jump from finger to finger. "I really don't know how strong it is, though. I've never been allowed to see...I was six months old when I electrified our cat..?" She offered, feeling rather stupid because she knew so little about herself. "It gets stronger in water or through metal." The lightning-esque flickers died, and she let her hand fall into her lap.

After Katie's demonstration, everyone's eyes strayed over to Nicole, who blushed. " Umm.." she began, " Well, I can move things with my mind and hear other people's thoughts..." she mumbled, looking slightly embarrassed. " I used to make food that I didn't like fly up into my mother's face... and... one time when I had a tantrum in the supermarket... all of the shelves fell over like dominoes... and if I concentrate hard enough..." she paused and in a split second she had phased through her chair, so that her upper body was the only thing visible on the seat of the chair.

Charles looked at her, smiling. "Well, I'm sure you'll both fit in very well here. Why don't we have Logan show you to your rooms, and then you can meet some of the other kids?"

Katie shrugged, "Sounds alright to me," though Nicole was sending Logan a look that said that no, it was not all right with her. Logan did not look particularly amused either, not really wanting to end up in a girl's room.

- - -

The room was a rather nice place, painted a light cheerful sort of green, with two pretty wooden beds with comfy blue sheets. Katie was rather more interested in the light socket, though she refrained from playing with it while they watched Logan drag Nicole's trunk into the room and attempt to find a place for it.

Nicole walked in last, dropping the pout that had previously commandeered her face as she took a look at everything. "Wow... it's almost my own room...but at least I get to share it with you, Katie instead of my annoying little sister. I swear all she thought about were her stuffed animals... how I would have loved to tear them to pieces.." she mumbled, fingering the soft comforter on the bed nearest to the door. She looked up; " Which bed do you want Katie? I don't care which but I don't want to end up taking the one that you want.." she inquired, ignoring the grunts of aggravation coming from Logan as he continued to drag her trunk towards the closet.

Glaring at him, Nicole levitated the trunk towards her, "Give me that.." she grumbled as it landed with a thud next to her.

Logan scowled as he bent over, bracing himself by clutching his knees, panting like an animal. "If you could do that, why did you have me carry it up 3 flights of stairs! " Nicole smirked, not saying what she really felt like saying, _because I like to see you suffer..._ but apparently this thought was practically palpable in the air because Katie giggled and Logan's lip curled unpleasantly.

Logan had just opened his mouth to say something biting, when he was interrupted when someone knocked gently on the doorframe. He was a nice looking sort of kid, very-boy-next door. "Hello, I heard we had some new kids", he offered as an explanation. Before they had a chance to reply another three or four kids had also showed up in the doorway, anxious to meet them. One was a pretty, soft-looking girl, a boy with rather ungainly massive wings, and the kid with the lighter from downstairs.

"Uhm... Hi.." Nicole offered, "I'm Nicole... and this, " she motioned to Katie, who waved, her face turning pink, "This is Katie" she finished, smiling as pleasantly as she could with Logan less than 5 feet away from her.

The nice boy smiled and held out a hand. " I'm Bobby." he stated. Taking his hand Nicole shook it, but not before realizing that her hand had become terribly cold. She sucked in a breath and looked at their hands, they were both blue with cold.

Bobby grinned, " My friends call me Ice Man" he laughed, his blue eyes twinkling with amusement at the shocked look on Nicole and Katie's faces.

"Erm... nice to meet you Bobby." they echoed. Turning to the other's Bobby promptly introduced them to the girls. The girl was Kitty, and the boy with the wings was Warren, but he liked to be called Archangel. Arch for short. The kid with the lighter was John, but he liked to be called Pyro. He flicked open the lighter and formed a fireball out of the flames.

Bobby gave him a disapproving look, and sent a small gust of ice to quench the flame. "Can we be careful around the wooden rooms, please?" He asked, sounding like he had to do this all the time.

John made a face at Bobby, but put the lighter away. Logan took this opportunity to escape, not really wanting to hang around. As Nicole watched Bobby and John, Katie was oohing and aahing over 'Arch' (as they called him)'s wings. "They're so pretty! Can I touch them?" She asked, feeling rather stupid.

Nicole rolled her eyes as Arch, reluctantly stretched out a wing for Katie to examine. Bobby, smiling and wanting to keep the conversation going, continued. "So where are you girls from?" he offered going to sit on the bed that had Nicole's trunk next to it, looking comfortable.

Nicole felt like telling him to please get off, but thought better of it as it would be rude and he was only trying to be friendly. "Um around Boston... we just got here.." she said rather stupidly, feeling weird. Boys never really thought much of talking to her, they much rather liked teasing her about accidentally walking through the door to the classroom instead of opening it. It felt nice to have someone to talk to who didn't beg you to "tell their future" (when all you can do is read minds) all of the time.

Bobby looked rather interested. "Really? I'm from Boston too..." He then went on to quiz Nicole about famous places in Boston she'd never been. There was another lull in conversation, which Kitty broke.

"So, what can you guys do?" She asked, curious.

Katie shrugged, feeling a tad awkward. "Electricity", she answered, giving another brief lightning display. Nicole did not answer, pretending she hadn't heard the question.

Bobby smiled, " Cool." he said. Then everyone looked at Nicole, again.

"What can you do?" Arch asked, smiling both politely as if to say I'm sorry and questioningly. She sighed, closed her eyes, and then promptly sank right through the floor. When she reappeared, she made a very distressed Bobby float two feet in the air.

The group oh-ed and ah-ed and Kitty even clapped. She was grinning, " At least I won't be the only one who can walk through walls now" she laughed.

**BANG! **There was an unexpected booming outside their window, as a thunderstorm built itself up into a royal fury above their heads. Katie dashed to the window, laughing rather crazily as lightning flashed rather too close for comfort.

"That came up really fast," Nicole commented.

"That's Storm's work." Bobby replied, as though this was no big deal to him.

"Storm?" Nicole repeated, questioningly.

"Ororo." Kitty explained. "They all take special names that have something to do with their mutations."

"Katie! Close the window!" Nicole yelled, as a suddenly strong gust of wet wind mussed her hair. Katie just laughed, hanging half out of the window, for once heedless of the height of the window.

"Katie!" Nicole shouted, trying to fight her way to the window. "Katie! I said GET AWAY FROM THAT GOD DAMNED WINDOW!"

Another bolt of lightning flashed past the window, and Katie leaned farther out of the window, almost as if she wanted to- Katie caught the bolt of lightning. It wrapped itself around her arm and kept moving upward toward the center of her body to move toward the ground.

"KATIE NO!" Nicole screamed. Katie, completely unaware of the danger, watched it with an almost maniacal sense of fascination. Breathing heavily, Nicole felt her physical strength weakening and the wind blew her backward. "Enough!" she screamed, with out warning, everything in the room began to shake violently as if an earthquake was going on as well as a gigantic thunderstorm.

But Katie was far too entranced with the pleasure of the lightning wrapped about her arm to notice. Everyone else in the room were a bit less concerned than Nicole, finally caught on to what a good conductor the wet, permanently static-y girl would make. Of course, everyone was afraid of just grabbing her by the shoulders, as they'd get zapped themselves (and without any nice, inborn immunity). Being the closest, Arch finally bit the bullet and dragged Katie inside of the room, breaking the connection to the lightning bolt.

Nicole slammed the window shut, and the wind finally stopped. "Katie! You're such an IDIOT!" Nicole snarled, wanting to slap her friend (but a bit afraid too, given the look on Arch's face and the small burns on his hands). "Leaning out of windows like a lunatic, nearly giving me a freaking heart attack! You could have been hurt! You could have been KILLED! Lightning isn't SAFE it may be electricity but it is also UNPREDICTABLE! ITS NOT YOUR AVERAGE EVERY-DAY LIGHTBULB!" Nicole burst in disbelief and complete and unstoppable rage. They had been there what, 15 minutes and they would be expelled for Katie's creepy fascination for white-hot bolts of electrical energy.

With this loud statement said, Nicole slumped onto her bed breathing heavily, and with ever disaster there comes... someone to make things increasingly... worse... " WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON UP HERE! I TURN MY BACK FOR ONE MINUTE AND YOU TWERPS GO HAVING A FUCKING SHOUTING MATCH WHEN I'M TRYING TO CONCENTRATE!" Logan was back, and his claws were bared. Literally.

Everyone whirled around, Katie and Nicole rather understandably shocked to see three steel-looking blades extending from each of his hands. "Its not my fault!" Nicole yelled back. "The smart one over here decided that thunderstorms were fun to play with and was hanging out of the window, grabbing at the tail end of a lightning bolt!" "

I was perfectly fine!" Katie yelled back, ignoring Logan entirely. "It was entirely under control, until you started freaking out!"

"SHUT UP!" Logan roared. "I'm not interested in who the hell started it!"

Nicole scowled, folding her arms over her chest. "Alrighty then, beastie boy, what are you interested in... if you don't care... why are you here?" she challenged, narrowing her eyes. Everyone in the little 'posse' gaped at her.

Bobby's blue eyes were round with disbelief and amazement. " Nicole!" he hissed, " do you know who your talking to! "

Nicole shrugged, not really sure why that should matter. "Yeah, I'm talking to Logan. and he's a hairy asshole." she said a little too loudly, and entirely not caring that he could hear her.

Bobby gasped, looking rather afraid to be caught in some sort of crossfire from what was sure to turn out as a vicious, bloody beating... and at the same time immensely cowed by what had to be overwhelming bravery, or overwhelming stupidity.

- - -

Storm looked up from her seat by the window, suddenly confused as to why her storm had gotten weaker. Someone was... siphoning off power from it, via a... lightning bolt? But, who'd be able to withstand the massive volts of electricity?

Charles Xavier, sitting behind his desk not to far from Storm, was smiling to himself. Dimly he could hear yelling upstairs, dominated by Logan's voice. This was going to be a fun year indeed...

Though Logan's voice was certainly very prominent, another voice, female, was beginning to master it. "AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN OUR ROOM! THIS IS A GIRLS ROOM! UNLESS YOU ARE EITHER AN IT OR A VERY UGLY GIRL, I SUGGEST YOU STEP OUT OF OUR ROOM!"

Storm laughed. "That's a good one!" she giggled.

"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE TALKING TO YOU LITTLE-"

"HEY! DON"T THINK OF CALLING ME THAT YOU INSOLENT..."

"I'LL THINK WHAT EVER I GOD DAMNED WANT TO!"

Charles sighed to himself. "Do you think we should give them all a talk about the rules?"

Storm shrugged. "I'd rather wait until this Nicole and Logan duke it out first."


	2. Chapter 2: I'm Feeling You

The year began, and the next two weeks dragged on more slowly that it should in both Nicole and Katie's opinion. School had began around the beginning of August, and would let out for the summer near the end of May. The year had been set up this way because it was a rather unique school in all perspectives, and because most students boarded year-round (they did get time off for vacations periodically throughout the term, but not many students actually left during them).

The girls learned that along with mutant ability training course, they would also have to take normal courses such as physics, chemistry, world history, algebra, and current events/politics. And right now, they were in the politics half of the current events class. Nicole, made a soft grunting noise, not understanding a word that Animal was saying about Graft, the president, and some mutant named Magneto. Right now she was awaiting Katie(who sat a few rows up and two desks to the left)'s note. _Please Lord, please save me from the inevitable boredom of this class... _she mentally pleaded.

Unfortunately, McCoy (the blue furry teacher) was not as oblivious as he might have seemed and intercepted the note. "Now, would you like me to read this out loud?" He asked sternly, giving Katie the typical 'disappointed teacher' look. She shook her head mutely, hoping that he wouldn't read it anyway. Shaking his head he threw the note away, and continued on with the lesson.

Katie heaved a deep (but very quiet) sigh of relief. The note had been about one of their classmates. Playing over the note in her head she hoped Nicole would just read her mind, instead of making Katie write it again.

Sighing, Nicole poked her way into Katie's head, catching her in the middle of a particularly gushy line. _" -and the way his wings feel... its sooooo soft... like petting a baby duck, except the baby duck can walk and talk and has the nicest smile..."_ she gushed mentally. Groaning, Nicole leaned on her head in her hand and rolled her eyes. **Featherbrain**...she thought secretly. Katie could be a bit so-so about boys... Nicole honestly couldn't see any point in them unless you wanted to shoot a few hoops or perhaps a game of mind chess where you move the pieces with your mind. Bobby was particularly good at it, except with him it was mind vs. ice chess. But he was no good at staring contests... Pyro had an impressive belch when he had 7 liters of Dr. Pepper in his system... but anyway... she was getting off track.

She listened more intently, _" But anyways, do you think that he likes me? Oh god, do you think he'll take me to the dance? Should I ask him or should I let him ask-"_

**"Katie"**

_"what should I wear omigosh_"

**"Katie, KATIE! listen to me!"**

"_I mean of course- what?"_

**"Katie, why do you need a date for the dance anyway?"**

_"Because... he's just so cute... why wouldn't I want him to take me?"_

**"But why did you need a date to begin with?"**

_"Because! You go to dances with dates! Cute dates!"_

"**Boys really aren't all the amazing, Katie."**

"_Nicole, you're missing the point!"_

"**No, you're missing the point! Boys are gross! the end!"**

"_NICOLE!"_ Their mind-debate might have lasted a great deal longer if the bell hadn't rung. _"Score!"_ Was Katie's new thought. Nicole blocked her out, not really wanting to hear _"I hope arch has to tackle me again." _

As they rounded the corner, they pressed a panel on the wall, which promptly whooshed open for them. "BOO!" A mass of masculine, body came popping out.

"Aiiiyyeee!" Katie squealed and looked as if she would jump into Nicole's arms if she hadn't specifically given her a death glare.

Nicole grinned. "Bobby, I think by the 5th time you should know that I can hear you thinking 'I'm going to get them this time' in your mind before the door even opens." she stated matter of fact-ly, but she was grinning all of the same. It was these kinds of things about boys that she liked, they like to have a good laugh... none of that mushy My heart will go on, pathetic Titanic love scene nonsense. Bobby walked with them down the hallway, laughing and joking with Nicole until they went into separate rooms to change into the Mutant Battle Garb.

Katie grumbled to herself, shaking the thick leather irritably. It was simply much too heavy for her, especially when wet (as it almost always was). Nicole liked the black leather, though she personally hated all of the "decorative" slits that had been cut into it for 'sexiness'. Katie, on the other hand, had enlarged hers.

As they emerged into the simulation room, they could hear their main teacher (Scott) talking. "-I figured we'd try out the new real-location sim today..." he trailed off upon seeing them, the first students to show themselves. "Katie, how many times have I told you? The style is "super hero", not "super whore."

Nicole snickered, " The fact that you notice, S-Professor is rather unnerving" she laughed. A broad grin was on her face.

Katie glared at her friend, "You totally have a one-track mind"

"Not as much as you do.."

"What! I don't have a one-track mind!"

"Hey Arch"

"WHERE!"

"PHOAR! YOU TOTALLY FELL FOR IT! Told you that you have a one tracked mind..."

Katie pouted. "Ok, maybe I have a slightly one-tracked mind... so sue me" she muttered folding her arms over her chest and scowling. This motion did nothing what so ever for her outfit situation. Yup, still screaming superwhore. Not that this bothered Katie in the slightest...

Nicole suddenly smiled, her eyes focused on something slightly to the right (Katie's left) of Katie's face. "Oh, hey Arch." she greeted.

Katie's scowl deepened. "Ok Nicole, I get it. Ha ha ha... now can we please talk about something slightly more-"

"Hey Katie"

"AIIYYEEE!" Katie turned around, and blushed rather deeply at the boy standing partially behind-partially to the side of her. "Hullo Arch," she began, slightly nervously, sending Nicole an 'I'm gonna KILL you' thought.

Unfortunately, this conversation was interrupted when Scott began to speak. "Alright everyone! Today we're going to do a more on-your-own type of sim. Help anyone you find, but don't form any teams!" Snapping his fingers, with a nod to Storm, he began to simulation. With a BANG the sky fell dark, and broken, burning buildings materialized among them. Attack helicopters patrolled the skies, searching for them.

Nicole felt the familiar knot forming itself in her stomach as the scene materialized. Quickly making a decision, she headed off to the right as she saw Katie follow Arch to the left. "I hate the way simulations feel so real..." she whimpered, through ragged breathing. Running wasn't exactly her forte. _"they totally screw up everyone's brainwaves... I can hear everyone's thoughts because I get so stressed I can't narrow it down... we... how can anyone think something like that at a time like this!"_ As these thoughts ran through her head, Nicole was fully unaware of a particularly loud, and almost impossible to be unaware of, helicopter was hovering over her head.

"FREEZE MUTANT!" shouted a rough voice through the megaphone. Her own frightened features were reflected back at her through dark glasses. "PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR YOU FREAK!"

Nicole complied, raising her hands. "Fine, I'll raise my hands... asshole." Clapping them together she watched as the helicopter folded in on itself, like an empty soda can. "Lets see what you call anyone ELSE you cripple..." But, in a way, these simulations were great for relieving stress...

- - -

Katie lost Arch in one of the louder explosions (his wings being such an easy target). She was currently underneath a slab of concrete propped up on another, trying to get a bit closer to a landed helicopter before they tried to shoot her.

"Agh! dammit!" she panted, scrabbling at the concrete with her nails. "NNgghh.. " she whined, trying to inch along but to no avail. Drastic matters call for drastic measures.. "I sure hope that this concrete has no metal lines in it! Here goes nothing!" she grunted, and focused as much upon the energy all around her as one could while lying underneath thousands of pounds of concrete. If she missed... Trying to concentrate a little harder while trying to allow the energy particles in the air to flow through her body and into her fingers, which she pressed firmly to a weak point in the rock. But just as the juice was beginning to flow...

"KATIE LOOK OUT!" a hoarse yell sounded from behind her.

"SAY BYE BYE MUTANT!"

Katie froze, as the soldier she hadn't noticed to her left (damn camo print) held up a rather ominous-looking detonator. _Damn..._

"DON'T MOVE!" Came another hoarse yell. Suddenly, the concrete she'd been under exploded in a shower of rock confetti (much nicer than the Katie confetti she would have been) and Scott slammed into her side, sending them both rolling down a hill.

'Oomph" Katie gasped, as he landed with a thud on top of her. Had it not been such an awkward place, (and with a teacher) it would have been a rather arousing situation, sweaty and panting as they were...

At the moment, Katie was in no mood to move. She was hot, sweaty, tired, and under... an equally hot and sweaty... TEACHER! Whoa. Not. Cool. But Scott didn't look as if he was very keen on moving anytime soon. He slumped slightly to the side, so he was half on, and half off of her. Never the less, the large rips in her outfit were proving to be effective. She was pretty sure that she would be nicely steamed and tender to the touch by now, from the heat of her wet leather ensemble. (not suggesting that she wasn't because of other reasons... being under concrete doesn't exactly do much to toughen the flesh..)

"Sorry," he gulped " Damn...were are my goggles!"

"Shit!" Katie swore, not really wanting to get fried just because he had to open his eyes. "You lost them?"

"yeah," he replied, hand over his eyes.

"Did you lose them on the top of the hill?"

He reached out a hand trying to find her shoulder (getting her boob instead, making her squeak). "I think so."

**"Great, a teacher landed on top of me, he lost his glasses which prevent him from destroying everything that he looks at, and he grabbed my boob instead of my shoulder... this is the greatest day ever... not"** Katie thought bitterly

_" o0o0o0o0o0o0, Scott grabbed your boob? that's like, second base isn't it!"_ prodded a voice in her head.

"NICOLE!" she squealed out loud.

Scott frowned. "Uhm... no, it's Scott, I thought we had that down?" he stated. If he could he would look at her like she was a lunatic, but given the circumstances...

"NO! no, not you its Nicole... she's talking to me in my head." she muttered, waving her hand at Scott. Though it didn't do much good as he couldn't see it...

**" Nicole, you have to find Scott's goggles"** she squealed mentally, **'he left them up on the hill!"** .

Somewhere far away across the simulation field, Nicole rolled her eyes at Katie's vagueness. _" THE hill... gee... I wonder where I can find one... oh, look! There's one right there...and over there... WHICH HILL SMART ONE!"_

**"The big one!"** Katie mind-squeaked back, really not wanting to hear Nicole's smart comments. **"THE ONE I'M NEXT TO!"**

There was a burst of 'radio silence', and then Nicole came back. _"I think I found the right hill... Watch where you're pointing that thing, Asshole!"_ From where she was lying Katie could hear the bang. _"Right. so I need to look everywhere all over this stupid hill, in the dark, for a pair of goggles that I barely know what they look like."_

Katie made a face at the air. **"Why don't you go look in HIS head and find out?"**

_"Ew, boys are one thing. But MEN! You cannot even comprehend how scary and traumatizing this will be for me...For all I know, he could be going over the events of a porn movie he's watched recently!" _ squealed Nicole's voice in return.

Katie, wrinkled her nose and shiftily glanced in Scott's direction. Not that it mattered or anything, as he was still blinded by his own hand.

He looked slightly miffed. "As much as I love sitting on the ground and being blind, I would love it if you could fill me in please..." he snapped. Though this statement did nothing to intimidate Katie, watching a man turn his head and make gesticulations one would normally make when angry while covering his eyes like a kid pretending that he couldn't _see _his broccoli therefore he could not _eat_it, was HILARIOUS.

She fought the urge to laugh hysterically at the poor guy. **' Nicole, just do it... he can't see'** Katie begged

_' So! I can't see without my glasses on in the morning and I still manage to pull my pants on.."_

"**How the HELL does that relate to ANYTHING!"**

_"I don't know... just a metaphor.."_

"**To HELL with metaphors just DO IT!"**

"_Alright alright... don't get your knickers in a twist."_

Nicole, really wishing that she didn't have to do this, gently prodded the edges of Scott's mind. _Oh, god, I can't believe I'm doing this..._ She thought to herself. At first, the transition really wasn't all that bad. There were a lot of blurry red-tinted images that all he was able to see through the goggles, which made her feel a tad sorry for him. Underneath that was a layer of anxiety about finding said goggles, and keeping his eyes closed tight so that Katie remained alive, whole, and un-charred. _"so what do these damn things look like?"_

Scott jumped. **_" What the-?"_** he thought,

_"Save me the questions Scott, can you describe the glasses to me?"_ From on top of the hill Nicole could feel his sense of both annoyance and a cringe of sadness. _"Sorry! What do they feel like? Can you form a picture from that?"_ she rephrased, concentrating so he wouldn't feel the wave of pity that had washed over her.

There was a soft sigh on the other side. **_"There is only one lens. Sort of like a band of ruby crystal ( I was told they were ruby anyway..) straight across. And they're plastic I think, its supposedly grayish black."_** he began.

As he continued to commentate, she searched the ground. _" Oh! hey I think I found them! Um... they're a bit.. broken.."_

**_"Broken?"_** He sounded more than a little alarmed, afraid of being deprived of what vision he had with the goggles.

_"Just a little bit, I think I'll be able to fix them,"_ Or at least she really hoped she could. _"I'm going to get out of your mind now... have those goggles there in a minute."_ He seemed relieved as she withdrew from his mind. Picking up the goggles as gently as she could, Nicole wove her way through the rubble and soldiers. Katie, hearing Nicole sliding down the hill, resigned herself to the taunting. She really didn't feel like shoving poor blind Scott off her (or moving at all, actually).

Suppressing a comment and a snide grin, Nicole patted Scott on the shoulder. He maneuvered so that he was no longer on Katie. "Um... they're not totally broken..." Nicole mumbled, holding them up to her face and looking through them, her brown eye peeped through a hole in them. "Whoa dude... how do you get around in these things? It makes everything go all wonky and red and blur-" she stopped "sorry!" she apologized.

He sighed, sounding as if he were holding back a lot of frustration, " Can they be fixed?" he sighed.

Nicole paused, thinking. She sighed, examining the damage. " Yes, but I might need to tap into your mind again just so I can make sure that I make them look and work exactly the same as before..." _and maybe with some slight adjustments_ she thought to herself suddenly, grinning.

He nodded, "Alright".

"Okay, but you have to concentrate really hard on what they felt like and the mental picture in your head, if you think of anything else it will screw them up..." Nicole warned.

Scott nodded, as largely as he could, and complied, focusing on his memory of the very first time he ever wore the goggles... Nicole took a deep breath in and out, holding the glasses in both hands. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on his mind and the goggles.

Katie sat there, watching as nothing outwardly amazing happened, save the shards of glass piecing themselves back together. After a few long moments, Nicole opened her eyes again and tapped him on the shoulder. "Try them now..."

"Where are they?" he inquired, groping along the ground one handed, trying to find her outstretched hands.

Feeling awfully do-gooder-ish, Nicole took his hand, placed the new and improved glasses in his hand, and then closed it. " Right there." she mumbled.

Slowly, he raised them to his face, making sure that his eyes were tightly shut all the while until the glasses were firmly situated over them. Though the Katie couldn't actually tell what was so different about the glasses, she watched him jump and gasp.

"What-?" he turned slowly and looked at both of the girls through crystal clear glasses. Though he had heard their voices, and told them apart by the sounds rather than relying their looks... this was a totally different matter. For once he wasn't looking at the world through a layer of blurry red, colors standing out as what they were rather than as shades of lighter or darker ruby. Shapes were more definite, and he could really see the two girls that were in front of him. One was kneeling in front of him, this was Nicole he guessed. She had short, dark brown hair and brown eyes. She smiled, winked, and motioned for him to 'shush' as if to tell him that he shouldn't say anything.

_" Now, when people assume that you can't see them goofing off in class... you can threaten to turn them to cinders... "_

**_' What did you do?'_** he gasped mentally. The girl in front of him grinned, and it didn't exactly look all that bad either.

"_I just modified them a bit. I got a teensy weensy helping of what you had to go through when I looked through those glasses. I figured that you could use some clear vision, and that you could do with some cheering up. Now you can see every one of your students and friends' faces. Congratulations you are now no longer legally blind. You can drive now!"_ the voice replied cheerily.

Scott grinned, **_'my eyesight never stopped me from driving before..."_** he snickered mentally, letting a soft chuckle escape his throat.

The girl, I mean, Nicole, looked slightly shocked. _' And you never ran anyone over? Wow, skill."_

Katie scowled. " NOT that his isn't fun, complete silence, and all, but have you two forgotten that I can't hear anything that you're saying and you two are grinning like creepy... creeping things..?"

The pair's grins fell from their faces. Scott turned to face Katie, and actually see her, for the first time. She was pale, unlike Nicole who had an olive complexion, blue eyed, and had red/brown hair. She was very easy on his new eyes. **_" I think I'm going to like being able to see girls..."_**

_" heard that."_

**_"damn"_**.

Nicole bit her lip to keep from laughing. Boys never changed, no matter how old they get, and no matter how many chest hairs they boast about having... they're still typical boys. Obsessed with girls just as much as girls are obsessed with them.

"We are still in a simulation you know." Katie stated impatiently, "Don't you think we should split up and well... actually do what we came here to do? You know, learn to develop our skills under pressure?"

Scott frowned, " No, I think that's enough for today... don't you think STORM!"

"Roger that Scott." And before their eyes, the burning buildings, the roaring of the flames and the helicopters, the debris... it was all gone and they were left sitting on cold, hard metal floors.

Nicole sighed and stretched, "Good because I am DYING in this thing.." she tugged at the leather suit, which was sticking to her by now. "Why did they have to make these leather anyway!"


	3. Chapter 3: Who Are You Going With?

Katie ran a hand through her sweaty, curling hair. Rather appropriately, it looked like sex hair, as she had been lying under a man (a sort of sexy man, her mind added before she could muzzle it). Flashing a grateful smile at said man, who was giving her a look as though he'd never seen her before (which obviously couldn't be right), she got up to leave.

"So, Nicole. Do you think I should ask Ach?" Katie asked, peeling off her steamy, sodden leather with a crackle. She was talking about, obviously, the student-planned dance that would be happening in a few days. It was a rather large affair, what with renting a bus to a popular nightclub and everything (obviously, it would be restricted to the older students only).

Nicole sniggered. "That'd some out great..." she laughed, putting on a high, bubbly voice. " Hey, um... uuhhh... You're sooo preetty, Arch. TAKE ME NOW!"

Katie promptly threw her shoe at Nicole, getting her shoulder."It wouldn't be like that!" Katie squealed, turning pink.

Nicole made a face halfway through what would have been a quite promising eye-roll as she peeled the leather from her skin, none to gently. She eyed the steam that wafted from her shoulders, with disgust. "Ugh... why can't we wear normal things for battle garb! Leather just makes everything considerably worse... and it makes me want to scrub myself raw after I've gone and sweat in it for a good couple of hours." she growled, finally kicking the suit from her. She then shrugged as she began pulling her school clothes from her locker, "I don't know Katie.." she sighed, "Though I question your obsession with the opposite sex," she waved one of her socks around energetically in Katie's direction, (she always made odd gesticulations while conversing) "I guess you'll just have to ask him... if you wait for him to ask you... well... you may never get asked at all... you know how Arch is... he's very shy."

Katie sighed, rubbing a towel over her rather icky damp shoulders. "But at least he isn't going to freak out the first time he sees me using something without plugging it in first..." Katie had had rather disastrously bad experiences with both of her former boyfriends. Nicole snickered.

"Well, Nicole, are you planning to ask Bobby to the dance? From the way he looks at you its obvious he wants to go with you." Katie commented, giving Nicole a look. "You know how shy HE is."

Nicole, who had been struggling to pull on her dark blue turtleneck shirt, finally thrust her head through the neck with a loud squeal of outrage. "WHAT! ask Bobby! That is the dumbest... I mean, he's my best friend! He doesn't look at me... Well, obviously he looks at me... you sort of need to look at someone in order to talk to him or her... but I mean... he doesn't look at me in that way. Does he?" she said this all very fast.

In fact, Katie had to struggle to interpret the outburst from Colie to English for a few seconds before answering. She grinned. "Are you kidding me?" she laughed, " It's sooo obvious!"

Nicole looked taken aback. "I still don't know what you're talking about, I really don't... I mean, who'd want to take me anywhere anyway? He obviously likes someone else prettier and is gonna take her, and you're just overreacting."

Katie had to stifle a massive giggle. "Jealous much? Nicole, why don't you just;... you know... start up a conversation about who's taking who, he'll get the hint eventually..." Katie trailed off, with a wicked glint in her eye. "And you two would be so cuuute..."

Nicole turned stone-faced, and pretended to be interested in tying her shoelaces. "Absolutely not. I know for a fact that Kitty has been trying to make him take the hint for weeks now." she sighed in an airy, false I-don't-care voice.

Rolling her eyes, Katie groaned. "Oh... you're hopeless..." she moaned into her hands in disbelief. "And why do you think he's been avoiding the question ever since?" Katie quipped, feeling a wave of annoyance come over her. If she had to ask someone to the dance, she was sure as hell going to make Nicole ask someone as well. Besides, it wouldn't do for Nicole to go alone.

"I don't see why I have to go with anyone in particular anyway..." Nicole continued in her false un-caring voice.

"Because you need to go with someone! Everyone is... C'mon Nicole... you know you want a date..." Katie cajoled. "Besides, I don't; want to leave you by yourself if I have a date."

Nicole 'harrumphed'. "I can have fun by myself."

Katie sighed dramatically, flinging open the door to the hallway. "Nicole, you are completely and totally hopeless."

Nicole frowned rather bitterly, " I am not." she muttered, following Katie out and into the hallway.

Katie sighed, "You're stubborn too." she commented dryly, "And if I can help it, you're going to wear a nice, pretty dress to make Bobby, your date, happy."

Nicole stopped, her face turning red with anger. "Now you listen to me Katie, if I say I'm not going with him I'm not. And I am not wearing a dress! It would be awkward... I'd have nothing to say to him.. I don't-"

"You never seemed to have any difficulty with talking to him before..." Katie prodded.

Nicole's scowl deepened, and she adjusted her books in her arms awkwardly. "Yes well, that's when I'm wearing pants and not baring my icky girly legs."

Katie gave Nicole a passing fair imitation of one of Nicole's patented stubborn looks. "You are going to go with Bobby, in a dress, looking like a girl, if it means I have to chain you up."

Nicole looked miffed. "I am not."

"Over my dead body you aren't." Still arguing rather pointlessly, they bumped into both of the pretty men in question. "Hello Arch," Katie commented brightly, breaking off in mid-sentence. "How'd it go for you?"

Nicole continued frowning, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at the oblivious Katie, who was no longer paying her any attention. "What is it with her and boys!" her mind growled heatedly. The boys joined them as they strolled down the hallway. The simulations were always in the last period, so they had free time before dinner and homework.

Noticing Nicole's miffed look, Bobby frowned ever so slightly. " Something wrong 'Cole?" he inquired politely, as he rubbed her back in a soothing manner.

She jumped. "Don't do that!" she squealed in a paranoid manner, trying to squash the butterflies that had begun to flutter in her stomach. Had Bobby always liked her? She felt paranoid now. Bobby looked a tad hurt, stepping back from the object of his desire.

Katie, breaking her eyes away from Arch's long enough to notice, gave Bobby a soothing sort of look. "Nicole's just a bit bitchy because she hasn't had her shower yet. You know, damp sweaty leather and all that." Bobby looked a bit better, though Nicole did not. How dare Katie make excuses for her? But they'd finally reached the girls' room.

Arch, looking extremely uncomfortable, leaned in to Katie. "Can you... meet with me... alone... for a moment?" he murmured, sounding somewhat terrified. Looking slightly taken aback, but none the less happy, Katie followed him down the hallway to the left. Looking extremely nervous, Arch ran his hand through his blond hair. He glanced around shiftily. "Listen, Katie... I was just wondering... the dance... I mean... assuming that no one has asked you already..." he began quickly.

Katie's heart hammered in her chest. Oh gosh. Looks like she wouldn't have to ask him after all...

"Wouldyougowithme!" he breathed. Arch's face had turned the color of an over-ripe cherry. He scratched the back of his head in a modest way, "I mean... If .."

"YES!" squealed Katie excitedly, "I mean.." she began, adjusting her voice so it sounded more laidback. She shrugged and smiled in a sweet way, "I'd love to"

- - -

Meanwhile, Nicole was tugging rather nervously at her bangs with one hand, trying to find something for the other to do. Bobby had come in, as usual, and was standing about looking somewhat awkward and more than a little hesitant. "Hey, Nicole," he began, cutting off the mutual babble that had been masquerading as conversation.

"You want to ask me to the dance, right?" Nicole interrupted, not particularly suavely.

"What? I mean... eventually... but... Since you're already going I guess... I mean, I wasn't going to ask quite right now anyway..." Bobby was looking somewhat emo, as though he really had wanted Nicole to go with him.

"No, I mean, I'm not going with anybody! I was just... trying to guess what you were going to say." Nicole tried to explain. "Its not obvious or anything... if there's anything to be obvious about its just that... I'd like to go with you." _Oh god, why did Katie have to leave?_

Bobby's face fell slightly, " Well, If you don't want to go- what?" he seemed to realize what she had just said a little too late. By now Nicole's heart was banging around in her ribcage, trying to break free, and her cheeks were on fire. She felt as if she would very much like to be out of this room and away from Bobby, but at the same time she didn't exactly want to leave him. What is this feeling? She'd never felt like this with Bobby before... Sure, she felt a slight lurch in her stomach when he flashed her one of the charming smiles he used when talking to other girls, at her perhaps by mistake. He wasn't exactly all that obvious about liking Nicole, given the fact that he was always chasing other girls and then treating Nicole like a sister afterwards...

Nicole panted a bit. "I said that I'd like to go with you." She repeated, somewhat breathless. Oh, why did things have to be so damn complicated between girls and boys? Why couldn't they just say what they meant...

Bobby blinked at her. He hadn't actually been planning to ask her, being much too afraid of having her laugh at him (as he was certain she would). In fact, he'd already steeled himself to an evening of watching her dance with other guys, and having her not is free if he managed to gather up enough courage.

"But if you don't want to go with me, then that's ok..." Nicole continued as quickly as she could, trying to clear the air.

"No, no, I'd love to go with you!" he protested.

Nicole's stomach now felt as if it were to float away, carrying her with it due to all of the butterflies fluttering inside of it. Nicole tried to shrug, "Well, I guess that's settled then... I guess.." she muttered, staring at the carpet.

"Yeah..." Bobby mumbled, trying to focus on something, anything but Nicole.

"But, what about Kitty and all of the other girls who've been badgering you about the dance?" Nicole burst inquiringly.

Bobby looked quite taken aback by this question. "Well...," he began, running a hand through his thick sandy brown hair. "I ... I don't know... I suppose they can find dates... I doubt they even asked me because they liked me... perhaps because they were desperate.." he mumbled, finally meeting Nicole's eyes. _Of course they like you, you dope. You're adorable._ Nicole thought.

What could have been an exceedingly adorable, and yet beautifully awkward moment was broken by Katie appearing at the door, looking flushed but inordinately pleased with herself. Seeing Bobby there, she tried to back out. "Sorry... I wasn't interrupting anything was I? 'Cause I can always find somewhere else to go, you know..." Oh, the two of them were just so cute. Standing there looking all embarrassed. Katie felt rather pleased with herself for having planted the idea, as otherwise there was no way Nicole would have spoken up. and they really did deserve each other...

"NO! no,". Nicole squealed, practically leaping from her bed as Katie had begun backing out of the door. She prodded her way into Katie's head. _Don't leave me here all alone with him! _ she mentally panicked.

Katie smirked. **You're such a baby** was the answer.

_I hate you_ Nicole's voice grumbled.

'**You'll thank me someday when you have little Bobby Jr. waddling around ..."**

_Katie!_ Nicole mind-snapped. _I am not going to marry him! or sleep with him, for that matter. _She really didn't need all those embarrassing mental pictures right now! Katie just laughed.

Nicole sighed, ignoring the slightly confused look on Bobby's face (silent conversations tended to do that). "I'm really sorry, but can you guys find somewhere else to stand? I really need to take a shower... I'll see you at dinner?" Nicole asked/demanded, wanting the time to think alone more than she wanted the shower itself.

Bobby jumped, looking slightly miffed at the idea that Nicole wanted to go to the dance with him, but didn't want him in the same room as her at the moment. "Uhm... yea... I need to go do... something. I'll see you later then 'Cole?" he mumbled inquiringly, hope flickering behind his blue eyes. Nicole nodded, speechless as her heart was currently situated in her throat. He smiled, looking relieved somehow and then passed Katie out of the door and disappeared from sight to the right.

Katie rolled her eyes, grinned, and squealed excitedly, " Ooohh you guys are going to be such a cute couple!"

Nicole glared at Katie. "Say that one more time, and I'm going to hit you."

"But I've only said it once." Katie protested.

"But you've thought it loudly."

"Fine." Katie sighed. "And I hope you're more of a human being after you take your shower." Katie then flounced out of the room.

Nicole sighed to herself and flopped onto her bed. Why were things so complicated? I mean, personally she had rather liked it better when boys were avoiding her never mind fancying her... And what was that feeling that she had gotten when Bobby looked at her? A sort of feeling as if her whole world had been flipped upside down and then righted again. She groaned into her hands. Did she have a crush on Bobby? Did Bobby really want to go to the dance with her, or did he just want to avoid Kitty?

Still in the midst of a startling amount of mental turmoil, Nicole got up. Going to her dresser she pulled out some fresh clothes, snatching up her hairbrush from the top of her dresser, then exited the room as quickly as possible. Nicole's spirits lifted somewhat as her thoughts drifted to the thought of a nice, hot shower that she could mull things over in. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad, going to the dance with Bobby... they could talk... and dance and have a generally good time like they always did... the fact that they were going there together together didn't have to be a fiasco... Opening the bathroom door, glad that she'd managed to find it empty (with only two per every ten rooms, it was sometimes rather difficult to find a free shower).

Nicole finished brushing her hair, not that it took particularly long (she didn't have much hair). But Katie definitely wasn't going to get her into a dress, oh no. That would just be waay too awkward... Nicole didn't think that Bobby had ever seen her in anything but pants and a t-shirt (minus the leather)... Sighing to herself, she put the brush down and began stripping off her shirt.

With her back to the door, she let it slip slowly from her shoulders and let it hang from her arms, which were still in the armholes. The room slowly began to get increasingly hotter as the steam fogged up the mirror. Breathing deeply to calm herself, Nicole began to remove her shirt completely. But... what was that noise? It sounded like the doorknob turning... no. Must be her imagination...

Dropping the shirt to the floor, Nicole reached up to pull down her bra straps, turning it to reach the clasp in the same movement as she turned to face the door. Oh no, it definitely wasn't her imagination, that door was opening. But no, it couldn't be someone she liked coming through, or someone un-awkward (like a girl).

It had to be one of her least favorite people in the entire world: Logan. A very shocked looking Logan, as it were.

Shockwaves coursed up and down Nicole's spine, pure hate blossoming into fear and humiliation as the man she loathed the most was given the biggest peek a pervert could dream of. Frozen to the spot, the thought of even remotely covering herself was futile. She could scarcely breath never mind making a sudden movement_. 'Please, don't look... his eyes... don't move downward don't move... look away... leave...'_ she begged mentally. Nicole's sense of horror only mounted when his eyes did the inevitable flick down, and she cringed as his eyes widened... and it was impossible to miss the appreciation in those eyes. As much as this was highly irregular, it was still a free look at a pair of breasts. Oh, why was she so fucking unlucky? It was after another, long painful moment that either of them had the presence of mind to move instead of just staring at each other like deer in the headlights.

After hastily crossing one arm over her chest to cover herself (and stupidly forgetting that she could have covered herself with her fallen shirt with her mind...) Nicole chucked the nearest hard object that she touched, her hairbrush at Logan's head. Then filling her lungs with air, and making it almost stupid to attempt to cover herself since her chest inflated from the air.., she screamed as loudly as she could, "GEEET OUUUUTTTTTTTT!"

After dodging a near blow by her hairbrush, Logan bolted.

As soon as Logan's hulking frame was gone from the doorway, Nicole made a motion with her hand that looked almost like a slap and the door promptly slammed itself shut. Her breathing had become rather erratic, and her mind was in mental disarray. _' Why did he have to walk in? Why him! Of all people!... and he saw... he looked! I mean, those are my private... no one is allowed to see ... ' _her mind bumbled on an on. Ripping the rest of her clothing from herself, she made sure the door was securely locked then stepped into her shower. " Damn him!" she hissed.

Muttering to herself, she made sure the water was as hot as she could stand, meaning to scrub the very feeling of his eyes from her skin. Eww! That was just so wrong... he was old, much too old for her, and a "teacher" to boot (not that he really did anything). Grabbing a loofah, she began scrubbing her skin so hard that it started to hurt. It was bad enough that she'd know what he was thinking every time he looked at her from now on. She wanted her skin to be clean even if her mind wouldn't ever be again...! "Stupid! Fuck ! Ah!" she grunted grinding her fists into the slippery tile walls of the shower. She slumped miserably, leaning up against the cool tile, trying to calm herself before her anger and humiliation spilled over. She knew she was crying even though she couldn't feel the tears, her eyes watered and stung. It seemed as though her dignity was the substance swirling down the drain, not the boiling hot water.

"God damn it!" she growled, seizing the shampoo and scrubbing her scalp until it stung from her nails scratching at it. "I hate you..." she whimpered softly, miserably watching the soapsuds swirl down the drain.

- - -

Though he wasn't showering miserably and crying a loss of dignity, Logan was not entirely unfazed either. Rather, he was sitting down to an informal, impromptu meeting, still somewhat stunned and still trying to get the picture out of his head. Funny how he'd never really noticed her in that way before... He shook his head, trying to shake the image of her naked chest from his mind's eye. Ignoring the unusually quiet, shell-shocked Logan, Xavier explained why he'd called the 'responsible adults' of the establishment together.

"As you know, the kids have organized a dance at one of the nearby clubs, and we-" (Xavier liked to use 'we', making it seem more like a team) "need at least two of you to go and supervise." Complete silence followed the Professor's statement. Quite frankly, no one was particularly keen on attending a dance in a hot, sweaty nightclub with a bunch of hormonally imbalanced teenaged mutants. Xavier frowned at the lack of enthusiasm. "Come now, surely there must be someone..." he faltered, "Don't make me force two of you to volunteer..." The silence continued.

Reluctantly, Scott made a small motion to signal that he would go. He shrugged, it's not like he had other important things to do that evening. All there was left was the other volunteer...

"Logan, thank you" Xavier called, as he had noticed Logan had made a sudden movement.

He had his head on the table, but that quickly changed. His head flew up, "What! No. No WAY am I going to supervise some teenager-planned orgy"

Scott also looked unhappy, desperately wanting to yell "No WAY am I spending an evening with that asshole!" But that probably wouldn't have gone over well. And the evening hadn't been looking that bad, at least he'd be able to see them this time around... but then, Logan tended to make things worse.

"That's why I need you to go, Logan." Xavier continued. "So it won't become …an orgy as you so eloquently put it."

Logan shook his head again. "How am I supposed to control hundreds of horny teenagers?"

"The way you do normally." Xavier continued, entirely too reasonably.

Logan scowled, drumming his fingertips on the table he was sitting at impatiently. "How, by threatening to tear them to bits? Personally if I were them the thrill of being caught or seen by a teacher would turn me on." he growled, adding a sickeningly twisted smile to his comment.

Scott wrinkled his nose. Logan definitely did not have the common courtesy to remember that everyone was supposed to have dinner after the meeting. And bluntly put, the fact that the risk of being caught doing something he shouldn't turned Logan on, didn't exactly spur everyone's stomachs into ravenous hunger. In fact, Scott wouldn't be surprised is Logan was banging some of the prettier students on the side. Pervert.

"Well, you aren't them and you're going." Storm commented, though gently, and the meeting was closed.

- - -

Katie was still patting Nicole reassuringly on the shoulder as they walked down the hall to the stairs to dinner. "Nicole, its ok... it wasn't your fault. You just need to forget about it. I mean, it's not like you have a class with him or anything," she murmured, though it wasn't making much of an effect.

Nicole just sniffled for the fifty thousandth time. They'd been over the event several times in excruciating detail.

It didn't help that they'd barely made it down the first couple steps before someone jumped between them, throwing an arm around each of their necks. "So, who's taking you lovely ladies to the dance?"

"Shut up, Pyro." Katie elbowed him in the ribs playfully.

"Arch is taking Katie." Nicole said, brightening ever so slightly to see one of her guy-friends... even though this guy friend was more than a bit of a player and most of the time got a lot more than a little annoying. "And I'm going with Bobby." Nicole muttered quickly, trying to skim over the subject at the moment. She didn't feel like thinking about Bobby right now. Even though Bobby was much more welcome than Logan her mind.

"Mmmm that's too bad because I was thinking of taking the both of you if you didn't manage to scrounge up some dates..." he purred, flashing a sexy smile. "Save me a dance Colie?" he inquired, squeezing Nicole's side gently.

Nicole nodded distractedly, "yeah, sure..."

Katie pushed him off before he could ask her. "I'm not saving one for you. You'll have to actually hang out with your own date for once, instead of trying to pick up everyone else's." (The best way to get Pyro to ignore you was to go out with him). But Katie would probably end up dancing with him anyway, if he asked her later. He was too pretty to completely ignore.


	4. Chapter 4: A Wet Dream

- - -

The day, for Scott, went on as normally as usual. Save the fact that he could now see perfectly clearly. Dinner was pretty much uneventful, but he caught himself shiftily glancing down the table in Katie's direction. She looked exactly as she sounded, pretty, and smart- if not a little out-there. Nicole was unusually quiet, except when Logan asked her to pass the salt. It went zooming around the room and smashed above his head, showering him with snow-like flakes of salt. Nicole promptly apologized under Xavier's gaze and passed him another saltshaker reluctantly, avoiding as much human contact as was necessary.

The day had been hectic, and it was finally quieting down in Nicole & Katie's normally noisy room (who conveniently was vacated nearby) enough for him to get into some more comfortable clothes and slip into bed.

Scott had been having rather uneventful and (frankly) boring dreams lately, about either perfectly normal things or something so out of the normal that he didn't bother trying to understand. But tonight was very different. It started out plainly enough, with him undressing and bathing. The room was quite a bit larger than the bathrooms really were, and he was taking a bath instead of his usual shower. So he had been scrubbing, in an exaggeratedly suggestive pose, when his door opened.

From the other side of the door there came a soft gasp. The door creaked open a great deal more and revealed Katie to Scott's (new) eyes. A healthy, embarrassed flush was perched on her pale cheeks, and she chewed daintily at the corner of her baggy pajama sleeve.

Her outfit left everything to the imagination, in her comfy baggy pants and long nightshirt, but deep in Scott's stomach he felt something stir. A great purring as if a beast had reared its head within him. His body was burning, on fire, like hell fire. Something told him that Katie could help.

She was still staring at his chest, and her eyes traveled suggestively down to stare at the bubbly water that clothed his lower half. "I.. I didn't know you'd b-be in here... I'm sorry..." she breathed, wide blue eyes flicking up from his abdomen to meet his eyes. Grinning at her, he started climbing purposefully slowly from the tub. She looked confused, stepping back one small but meaningful step, eyes widening in a virginal manner. As he stood there, he (with some sort of inner satisfaction) watched her eyes flick downward. "You're... naked..." She breathed, wide blue eyes flicking up from his nether ranges to meet his eyes.

Scott couldn't suppress his grin, there was something he wanted... and it was definitely something that Katie had. He quirked and eyebrow, "Does it bother you?" he murmured silkily, taking a step forward.

Katie made a noise somewhere between a gasp and to word 'oh!' she backed up and bumped into the wall. Right where he wanted her. "N- no " she whispered, "Well, I mean you're my teacher and.." She stuttered, groping along the wall her face reddening.

Scott closed in, though keeping his 'nether ranges' a reasonable distance away, "What? Teachers aren't allowed to shed their clothes?... have a little fun?"

Her eyes widened even more, and she looked torn between alarm and a sort of unwilling attraction... because he was undeniably attractive. "Well... not with students, no... I mean... its not legal and..." She shrank back some even more as he reached out a hand to touch her cheek.

His hand was slick with water but undeniably pleasant and warm. Katie closed her eyes and leaned into his hand. He traced her lower lip with a forefinger. "I won't tell, if you don't" he purred softly.

"Scott..." she breathed, almost as a last and weakening warning. He pounced as her knees failed her, scooping her up into his arms and pulling her to his naked chest. He was unable to resist anymore as she made a soft sight of content. "You're really warm..." she mumbled, the beast inhabiting his body roared in triumph as she succumbed to his kisses, his touches, his every whim. "You're so naughty Scott..."

"Scott..."

"Scott..."

"SCOTT! GET YOUR LAZY- WET DREAM ASS OUT OF BED!"

"Aggh... noooo Logan..."


	5. Chapter 5: Chaos In Motion

For Scott, the day was getting off to a fairly shitty start. Logan was someone no one wanted to see first thing in the morning. And he could not help but cringe at the thought of his dream, as disgustingly graphic as it had been. It wasn't helping that the object of said dream was wearing a particularly low-cut top, was on the opposite side of the table, and ironically kept leaning over to talk to Nicole whenever he tried to steal a glance at her... _oh, why should something so utterly wrong turn him on?_

Nicole, meanwhile was blushing and arguing with Katie from what Scott could hear. "No... no, I don't want to talk about it. It was horrible..." she mumbled, spooning unnecessary amounts of sugar into her Rice Crispies.

Katie watched with her nose wrinkled, and she infuriatingly leaned over more to grab a sausage from a plate that was in front of her. "C'mon Colie, you can tell me... I told you about the one with Zeus in it with all the lightning bolts..." she prodded.

Nicole visibly flinched, " Yes, you did and you scarred me for life... how could anyone do-" she began.

Katie blushed and cut her off, "Exactly! Your dream couldn't have been half as bad." she said, nibbling at the corner of a piece of cinnamon toast.

Nicole blanched. "Believe me, it was bad."

Logan, sitting (irritatingly) near Scott and so able to hear everything as well, leered and leaned across the table. "That dream wouldn't have been about me, would it?" He asked suggestively, with a theatrical eyebrow-wiggle.

Nicole blanched, dropping her fork. Dropping to her knees, she scurried under the table to find where someone had kicked it, and bumped her head against the inside of Logan's calf. Taking in a deep, ragged breath, Nicole had a panic attack. Katie, realizing, threw herself on the floor to Nicole, affording a rather confused Scott a nice shot of some lacy underwear.

After several minutes of frantic panic and Katie trying to calm her down, Nicole came to sit between a pair of legs, breathing heavily. Oh god. What a nightmare. "Where'd my fork go..." she mumbled, remembering what she had come down here to get. Katie shrugged. Someone cleared their throat from up above, and a hand grabbed her by the hair. "Ow owowowowowow!" she squealed as she was wrenched out from underneath the table, through a pair of legs and face to face with Logan. She was now sitting in his lap. _Oh god, why?_

He grinned. "As much as I like having you between my legs I think what you're looking for is one of these." he held up his own fork and shoved it into her hand.

Katie, still under the table, suddenly realized that Nicole was gone. Forgetting she was still under the table she tried to stand, hitting herself rather hard off the head. "Fuck!" She gasp/shouted, dizzy.

Nicole was meanwhile scrambling to get away from Logan as fast as possible, nearly falling over on to someone else's lap in her haste. In the scramble, she dropped this new fork, but like she'd ever eat off something that he had! Disgusting! By now, obviously, everyone's attention was far from his or her breakfast. Blushing, Nicole stood up, snatched up the fork, and walked around the table back to her seat. As she slammed back down into her seat, Nicole plunged it prongs-first into Logan's muffin, where is stood stalk straight. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'd die before I ate off of something that's already been in your mouth." she snarled. Then she promptly turned to face Katie and asked politely, "Are you using your fork?"

Katie shrugged, handing over her fork. "Nope. Cereal and a muffin, so I don't need it." Problem solved, and oh, how much easier it would have been to just do this from the beginning? But they never seemed to choose the 'easy' way of doing anything...

Logan took this moment to become extremely furious. So furious, that he merely speared one of the muffins that hadn't been contaminated with a fork that had been on the floor with a claw and took a huge bite out of it.

Scott was promptly taking a deep swig of coffee from his mug, trying to hide his grin. It was fun to watch Nicole and Logan go at it. The simulation today would be particularly interesting...

- - -

The fighting started before he'd even opened his mouth to begin the class. "Where's Storm?" Nicole demanded, looking at Logan warily. "Absolutely none of your business." Logan had replied. "Alright everyone!" Scott yelled to be heard. "We're splitting into teams today! I want everyone to line up and I want... Pyro... and... Nicole to be captains."

"Oh but, I want to be on Nicole's team!" Pyro exclaimed, wiggling his eyebrows as Nicole smacked her face with her hand. She hated being a captain for anything.

Scott sighed, "That's nice, but you can attempt to get into Nicole's pants some other time." he stated. For a while the comment went unnoticed.

Until Pyro pouted, Logan burst out laughing, and Nicole blushed like mad. " Like he could!" she snapped, eyeing Pyro with annoyance. He gave her the puppy dog eyes.

"Yes, because of course Nicole keeps her panties under lock and key." Logan burst between fits of tear jerking laughter. He was doubled over with hilarity.

Katie sighed to herself, rolling her eyes at Arc. Oh, the sexual tension around here was thick enough to cut with a knife.

Nicole was glaring murderously at Logan. He did not notice, being too busy laughing at his own jokes. He did notice, however, when rather suddenly a giant 'gust' of wind knocking him over rather violently into Scott, who crashed into the wall rather painfully.

"Uggh..."Scott grunted in pain, " Nicole!" Squeaking, Nicole righted Scott and Logan went zooming in an opposite direction.

"God DAMMIT! Put me DOWN!" Logan bellowed from all the way across the simulation field.

Nicole shrugged, " ok" she mumbled. A faint THWACK could be heard from Logan's side of the field.

"Anyway," Scott commented, trying to keep at least a marginal hold on things. If anything could be said about his job, it was that it was never boring. "Alright! I want you to all line up! We're picking teams. Now. Nicole, get over here and stop terrorizing Logan."

"Fine..." Nicole mumbled, sounding very much like a disappointed child at Christmas.

Once all of the students had assembled into a line, Scott looked to Nicole. "Ladies first." he prodded, motioning for Nicole to pick her first teammate.

Nodding, Nicole searched out Katie and found her all the way on her right. "Katie." she claimed, pointing in her direction. Grinning, Katie jogged over to Nicole's side.

Pyro paused for a moment, trying to decide whom to pick next. He would have picked Katie, if only to spite Nicole...

"Bobby, you're mine." He called at last. It had been a close contest between Arc and Bobby, but Bobby was the most useful in a firefight. Bobby looked a bit disappointed though... oh well.

The sorting of people into the two teams commenced, landing both sides with equally good odds and a hard decision. "Each team gets one teacher. So pick. Logan, or me. Nicole, it's your pick..." Narrowing her eyes, Nicole circled her two teachers. _Hmm. Logan is an asshole... _she thought as she did another loop around her specimens. Logan frowned, obviously she didn't care if that thought were private or not, given that she conveyed it so they could both hear. _But he's fast... invincible claws... bad attitude... and Scott... a bit smaller in build, but strong all the same, laser vision... level head..._ At last she came to a decision. "I…pick... Scott." _ He'll be better in the long run... I need someone with a cool head and can make good decisions under fire... not someone who will screw up because he lets his limited emotions get in the way of his common sense. _This thought was let slip as well. Everyone heard it. They all laughed. Smirking, Scott went and stood in Nicole's group while Logan and Nicole shared one last riveting death glare match.

Nodding at Logan, who entirely ignored him, Scott held up a hand, counting down fingers. "and... START." With something of a melodramatic bang, they found themselves in the middle of a moderately busy street in London. The other team was nowhere to be found, and there were loads of 'sim-people' everywhere. It was going to be intense.

Breathing deeply, Nicole braced herself, this was going to be a toughie. Katie grinned, "I've been waiting for this all day..." she growled, her fingers bent and tensed, allowing a small electric spark to be visible jumping from finger to finger.

"Stand your ground for now..." Scott murmured, holding back some of the more excited students (a.k.a Katie). "It's not just team on team, or just us against the simulation people... the sims are going to replicate members of our team and their team... we have to tell the difference between the two... Logan knows the rules... the other team is not supposed to critically hurt us... but the sims have no boundaries this time... they will attempt to kill you if you don't watch out..." he muttered to them all, his head turning this way and that, listening.

The group remained nearly motionless, besides for shallow breathing and nervous blinking when with an unearthly loud screech, a cat leapt from behind a trashcan. Nicole let out a piercing screech, at the same moment that Katie let loose an overly large bolt at it. The scream, coupled with the bright flash broke the tension, and the peace, with a vengeance.

In the blink of an eye, millions of things happened at once. Dozens of people ran from different hiding places, all shouting numbers of different battle cries. Annoyance flashed over Katie's face, "Why did you go and scream like that!" she grunted as something bashed her head from above. Pure white feathers rained down in Katie's face. "ARCH!" she screamed, "It's me!" Franticly trying to get him to recognize her.

"No Katie! It might not be him!" Nicole's voice sounded from far off, above her head she levitated a large boulder that had crumbled off of a building. With a lurch she tossed it at what she knew wasn't Bobby, as he had practically turned her to a Nicolecicle... "Take THAT!" The boulder smashed down on Bobby's face and an arid smoke rose from underneath the rock.

As this happened, a cool, mechanical, female voice recited "One simulation replica, terminated."

"One down, how many to go?" Katie commented, rolling out of the way of another non-arch attack. It was obviously the sim... Glaring, she zapped it as hard as she could, crisping the feathers.

"Second simulation replica, terminated."

As the simulation continued, Nicole found that if she tried to tap into the minds of sims, she could hear nothing but a dull static buzzing and perhaps the words 'must kill' since sims had no original thoughts other than what the computer puts there. "KATE! They have no thoughts! If you just tap into their heads-" she shouted but she was cut off as Katie bumped back to back with her.

"Problem is, Colie... we can't ALL read minds!" she growled, zapping a particularly nasty looking Pyro into the air with a lightning bolt. "But I don't need to read minds to know..." Katie panted, as she whirled around, her eyes sparkling with fury. "That my name isn't Kate, and YOU aren't Nicole!"

The Simulation hissed, laughing. "But you lose!" It then hurled her against the opposite wall with its nasty psychic powers.

Taking it with a roll the way she'd been taught, Katie landed nicely on her side. Much to her displeasure, the bolt struck a rather real Nicole instead. "What the fuck?"

"Ow Katie! That hurt!" she yelled , slumping against the pillar of a rather official looking courthouse that had been practically blown to bits.

"Sorry!" Katie squealed, running over to make sure if it she was all right.

"No you're NOT!" Nicole shrieked, she lifted her hands and swung them down forcefully. With a great CRACK and a low rumble the pillar behind her detached itself from the courthouse and tumbled over the simulation Katie like a fallen tree. "Timber!" Nicole called , laughing at the wreckage, as she heard the voice say " Simulation replica number 4 terminated". Panting, Nicole ran along a split street. _Sweet Jesus , this is getting a bit out of hand!_ she thought

In the middle of a rather violent and entirely over the top battle with one of the sims, Logan mistimed and (having just vanquished a sim) entirely accidentally cut a rather large gash into the top of Nicole's back. In fact, he hadn't even noticed she was there until he'd hit her. Nicole was in the middle of taking a quick, needed break, wiping sweat off her forehead, when there was a searing pain across her shoulder. "Ah!" she yelled out, whirling around to glare at Logan. "What the hell?...Ohh" she groaned, groping her shoulder to feel along the three jagged rips that ran through the back of her leather suit and into the delicate flesh of her upper back and shoulders. "Fuck! Ah.." she hissed, whipping around to face whoever had savagely slashed her poor back.

Frozen to the spot, Logan tried to determine whether this was the sim-Nicole... or the real one. Delicately, with his sharp sense of smell, he sniffed the air. Gunpowder, hot leather..., and blood. The smell of blood was tangible, he could taste it on the air. "Nicole.." he began to explain, but something in her eyes told him that no matter what he said to her, she was aiming to kill.

"You... ASSHOLE!" She snarled, probably the angriest she'd been in her entire life. "What the FUCK was that for!"

He backed up a step, feeling an emotion he hadn't felt in such a very long time... actual fear. He was afraid of her, a student, a girl, the way he wasn't of much else. "Nicole..." he cajoled. "It was an accident! I swear! I wasn't trying to-"

She cut him off, sending him backwards into a broken pillar. There was a great snap, and for (not the first time) he felt very relieved that his broken spines repaired themselves... "I'm going to KILL you for this!" As if he hadn't noticed...

After a great jolt of pain while having his back crack back into place, Logan was back on his feet and trying to evade Nicole's furious attempts to kill him. Blocks of concrete flew in every direction, and burning telephone poles and wires fell like rain upon Logan. The concrete was simple, adamantium(the metal in his claws & bones) could slice through that easily. But the burning telephone wires were another thing completely. They lashed and whipped through the air like a bullwhip, licking his sides and face viciously. Grunting and clutching a stitch in his side, Logan dodged behind a tipped mini-van. "God dammit! This woman is crazy!" he growled.

So he was most relieved when, halfway through hacking apart another concrete block, the sim-world vanished and he found himself slashing at the air. Everyone else looked just as sweaty, dirty and scared, as the overwhelming paranoia of never knowing who you were talking to had set in. Katie was hanging onto Arch and looking traumatized (having watched Nicole kill the non-Katie), as did most students after having to hurt, or having been hurt by friends. Only Nicole still looked homicidal, and he was happy that there were lots of people standing in her way.

Nicole's face fell slightly as the scenery melted away and Logan still remained. Damn, if he were a sim that would have been some great stress therapy... she thought bitterly. Her hands were still stretched out in front of her as though she had just heaved something extremely heavy away from her. She promptly dropped her arms, and stooped to catch her breath. "Damn it!" she hissed, as she wheezed. Her lungs weren't exactly adept to vigorous exercise...

"... Nicole?" Katie's voice sounded weakly from somewhere behind her, "Are you alright? Your suit... you're bleeding pretty badly.."

Nicole had been about to reply when there was a poke at the wound, and a searing pain. "Arrrggg..." she moaned.

Scott had appeared at Katie's elbow, looking concerned (or at least what they could see of his face did). "Katie, why don't you take Nicole to the Infirmary to get that looked at..." He commented, sending Logan (whose distinctive claw marks were easy to identify) a very dirty look. Katie nodded, looking paler than usual (which was saying something) as she took Nicole by the arm.

The first thing Nicole did that did nothing but make matters worse was when they were not-quite yet out of ear shot, she bellowed, "THAT GOD DAMNED ASSHOLE RIPPED RIGHT THROUGH MY BRA STRAP!" as she lifted a hand to knead gently at her throbbing flesh. Rolling her eyes, Katie smiled weakly. Yup, even when she was injured... Nicole was still the same old Nicole. "I don't think he meant to Colie..." she said soothingly, patting her companion's shoulder gingerly. " OW!"

Nicole gave Katie an injured glare. "OF COURSE HE MEANT TO! YOU CAN'T JUST SLASH SOMEONE AND CALL IT AN ACCIDENT!" Katie sighed again. There would be no talking to Nicole (other than agreeing with her, of course).

Meanwhile, Logan was attempting to defend himself. "I didn't mean to!" He protested for the millionth time. "It was an ACCIDENT!"

Scott shook his head in annoyance. "I hope that you know, that even if she does by a slim chance in hell believe that it was an accident... she is going to hold it over your head for years to come..." he stated off handedly, motioning for the remaining students to retreat to the locker rooms.

Logan scowled, "She should know perfectly well that I'm not allowed to harm students unless it's some sort of misunderstanding, Xavier would have my ass mentally kicked from here like that." he snapped his fingers.

"I don't think she knows that. You spend too much of your time trying to make her utterly furious that she probably thinks he doesn't care what you do." Scott of course, was rather hoping that this wasn't a gross misunderstanding and that Logan really would get kicked out.

: " Should I go and apologize...?" Logan inquired, scratching the back of his head, looking, if not slightly embarrassed.

Scott raised an eyebrow and shrugged, "It's worth a shot, but I wouldn't say no to the buddy system... perhaps go when there are a lot of people... safety in numbers and all that jazz... oh, and I would perhaps consider... a shower." he added the last bit with a smirk, then decided to leave before he was sent to the infirmary as well...


	6. Chapter 6: Hurting Your Chances

Nicole hissed as a nurse applied some stinging cleanser to the cuts in her back. Initially, Xavier was the physician, but today he was off on some errand or another.

"Oh, my, these are deep..." the woman commented, sounding somewhat surprised.

"No shit," Nicole muttered, grimacing and trying not to cry. As she struggled to keep back tears, the woman dolloped a large amount of the cleanser into one of the deeper wounds. "Hhmmm.." Nicole whimpered softly, wriggling in pain.

"Don't squirm dear, you're making this much harder than it should be.." the nurse cooed softly, patting her on the head like a disobedient dog. Growling deep in her throat, Nicole clutched her knees tightly and stared resentfully at the windowpane in the infirmary door way.

"So how exactly did this happen?" The nurse asked, while trying to decide whether Nicole would need industrial size Band-Aids or stitches. Nicole let out the breath she'd been holding.

"Logan happened..." she replied. "Accident in the Danger Room during a simulation."

"Oh my, he is sort of a danger hazard isn't he?" the nurse mumbled, poking and prodding gently at the wounds.

"Ooooowww..." Nicole breathed, gritting her teeth she answered. "Yes I think he is... since he has a hard time controlling his temper..."

The nurse tut tut-ed. "Well, as long as he doesn't bother me I won't bother him... I'm half glad that he can heal himself..." she muttered skeptically. "Those wounds should be fine, I'll just tape some gauze bandages over them to keep bacteria from entering them until they close up. You should be able to take them off tomorrow morning, your back will be a bit tender though.."

Nicole nodded. "Alright, sounds good..." she mumbled, sighing in relief.

"Are you going to the dance?" the nurse asked.

"of course I am," Nicole replied, a bit confused as to what that had to do with anything.

"Then you need to remember to be careful how close you decide to dance with someone. I wasn't kidding when I said that your back will be tender." Nicole nodded, getting up off of the table.

Katie appeared at the door, waving, as she'd run off to the locker rooms to fetch Nicole's clothing (Nicole having been rushed off still suited up in hot, sweaty leather that was none to comfortable to boot). Tossing the bundle to Nicole, Katie smiled at her friend. "Guess what?"

Nicole smiled gratefully for her clothes. She hopped gratefully into her jeans, and haltingly, slowly she pulled her black long-sleeved shirt on over her safety pin-repaired bra. "I hate guessing games, what is it Katie?" she mumbled, checking that her bandages were still securely in place.

Katie smiled, glad that her friend was in one piece... but she doubted the news that she came with would keep her that way... "Logan came here to apologize for hurting you." she stated cheerily.

Nicole blanched. "Tell him I died." she replied with an entirely straight face. Logan was (as usual) the last person she wanted to interact with right now.

"Nicole! It's Logan! Apologizing! You should make the most of it. Besides..." Katie turned to pleading. "This doesn't mean you can't still blackmail him about this. or keep making him feel really guilty..." Nicole shook her head. Ignoring her friend's protests, Katie yelled to the door, "You can come in now!"

Scowling, Nicole shot Katie a ' damn you to hell' look before the door creaked open and the unwelcome Logan stepped in. Logan certainly did not look like he wanted to apologize. Rather, he looked like someone made him come to apologize. It had been Scott most likely. Clearing his throat in a way that sounded like a growl he began to speak, making Nicole's scowl deepen. "So... how's the um... back doing... not too bad? You're alive right? No harm done.." he grumbled, leaning to the side ever so slightly as if expecting the back of her shirt to be ripped open and unveiling the nasty welts in her skin.

"Plenty of harm done." Nicole countered. "My back is killing me and its probably going to scar..." she went on and on in a mini-rant, glaring at him the entire time. Logan endured the rant because he had to, disagreeing with everything.

Katie sighed to herself, edging out of the way. They were so very alike. In fact, if he hadn't been some sort of teacher they would have been perfect for each other.

Logan sighed in an irritated manner. "Look, It's not like I meant shred your back to ribbons.." he growled, pointing a finger at the hormonally imbalanced young woman in front of him.

"Oh, yeah ok.." Nicole said, none too maturely.

"Look, kid. I'm sorry that I caused you serious bodily harm-" he began.

"Not to mention psychological harm as well, Mr. I Don't Know How to Knock..." snarled Nicole, blushing as she recalled the painful event. _Oh god, why did I just bring that up!_

Logan looked a bit taken aback, he really hadn't expected her to bring that up. "I'm sorry about that too! Again, I really wasn't trying to walk in on you undressing!" Of course now that was all that he could think of, and it really, really, really wouldn't help his cause if he got all turned on in the middle of her yelling at him.

Katie snorted mid-giggle, interrupting the little lovers spat.

Scowling, Logan fell silent, trying to concentrate on things other than Nicole's naked chest. Nicole continued to blush. _I swear if he starts getting a boner... I really will kill him this time... _Nicole thought mutinously.

Katie continued to grin, " But obviously you haven't forgotten it...so obviously it must be something that you don't exactly hate to think about.." Katie laughed.

Both of them turned to glare at her, unsure of which one she was talking to and neither agreeing. Backing up a bit, not really wanting to have to face an angry Nicole and an angry Logan, Katie just smiled sweetly and as innocently as she could. "Well, its true..." she protested as a way of defending herself.

Nicole shot Katie another warning look. Katie promptly shut up after allowing herself a small squeak of embarrassment.

Focusing once more on Nicole, Logan growled, "Look, I'm not going to say it again. But it you're just going to refuse my apology kid..."

"I'm not a kid!" Nicole interrupted

"Oh? Could've fooled me!" shouted Logan.

"Like I'd accept an apology from someone who doesn't even mean it you great, big, fur ball!" Nicole retorted, her face becoming red as her temper began to boil over.


	7. Chapter 7: Dance To The Music!

Katie was humming a jumpy little tune to herself, while curling her hair. This would have been perfectly normal if she had bothered to plug the iron in... Katie was wearing a rather sketchy dress, a strapless corseted number with a ruffle-y black skirt that varied from mid-thigh to just above her knee, showing off her fishnets. she was also planning to wear high, black, ruffle-y stilettos (her 'Goth shoes') and was feeling extremely sexy in her second-sketchiest set of lingerie... strapless lacy bra with matching lacy underwear, complete with straps that hooked to her stockings. In other words she looked like a whore, but a rather pretty whore.

The dance was less than an hour away and Nicole sat on her bed stubbornly, still refusing to slip into the simple, bear backed, spaghetti strapped, sexy black dress that Katie had tossed to her an hour before.

Rolling her eyes, Katie turned to give Nicole an annoyed look. "If you don't put that on and get ready, the bus will leave without us and we won't get to go." she chided, while turning back to the mirror and fiddling with a tightly curled section of hair.

Nicole smiled in a self-satisfied manner. "Good. Then I won't have to be embarrassed in front of Bobby in that icky girly dress..." she grumbled.

"Nicole..." Katie started warningly, shaking the curling iron at her friend threateningly. "You are going to put that dress on right now, if I have to wrestle you to the ground, tie you up and force it over your head." Why couldn't Nicole act like a normal girl? Or at least pretend? Nicole remained stubbornly silent. "C'mon... Bobby will want you to wear a dress, you look so pretty in one." " Bobby asked me without ever seeing me in a dress," Nicole replied, still sitting there with her arms crossed. "But he'd like you better if he can show you off. Nicole, you are pretty. Pretty in a dress. Now put it on." Katie cajoled.

"No." Nicole said again, looking more stubborn than ever.

Katie frowned. "Nicole! You are wearing a dress, dammit, if it's the last thing I do!"

"But I don't wanna wear a dreeesss..." whined Nicole pathetically.

Katie didn't fall for the crocodile tears. "Well, too bad. You're going to wear a dress and you're going to like it" she huffed, now applying mascara with her mouth wide open. Nicole sighed, scowling and snatching up the dress. She didn't feel like arguing... and despite all of her efforts to convince her other wise; she knew that Katie could tell that she didn't hate the prospect of going to the dance in a dress that badly. "Oh, and by the way, you'll have to go bra-less tonight because if you wore a bra the strap would show because of the dress's lack of a back." Katie mumbled, grinning to her self as she watched Nicole (who was half-way through yanking the dress onto herself) flopped over onto the ground with a loud THUNK.

"Ooowwieeee... my back..."

Grabbing her eyeliner and applying it a bit more liberally than normal, Katie watched Nicole in the mirror. "Nicole... do you really need to be dressed like a two year old, or can you put your own clothes on?"

Nicole made a sniffle-y snort-y sigh-y sort of noise, part irritation, part pain and part defeat. "You don't have gashes in your back; do you..." she murmured, sitting up. "My back is killing meee..."

"No, I don't, but if I did I wouldn't be using it as an excuse.." admitted Katie, applying liberal amounts of lip-gloss now. Rolling her eyes at Katie's sudden need to get 'dolled up' and her comment, Nicole finally managed to pull the dress on. Sneakily she began to approach the mirror to apply some makeup as well. " Ah ah ah... bra OFF" Katie chided.

"But... but" Nicole attempted, placing her hands over her chest defensively.

"No buts... off with the bra." Katie cut in, eyeing Nicole out of the corner of her eye in the mirror.

Grumbling, Nicole turned her back and unclasped her bra and maneuvered so that she took it off with out removing her dress. "I feel so violated and exposed..." she mumbled miserably.

Katie sighed. "Its better than having hundreds of people know exactly what kind of bra you're wearing. Besides, you look so pretty.." Katie gave Nicole a quick, bubbly hug before getting back to her face.

Nicole made a sniffing noise. "I don't care how pretty I look... I don't feel right..."

"Oh, stop pouting and let me make you look pretty." Katie snapped, holding a brush and a straightening iron in her hands. Sighing, Nicole allowed Katie to 'doll her up' as well. Though she firmly put her foot down when Katie tried to over apply the eyeliner.

"No. Let me do the eyeliner thank you very much..." she stated, applying it sparingly. She preferred not to look so gothic as Katie liked. She also refused to wear fishnets, and settled for a pair of black knee-highs. However, Katie somehow cajoled Nicole into heels.

A little while later met the couple walking down the main stair case to meet their dates, albeit a lot of difficulty in Nicole's case. "How can you WALK in these things Katie!"

"Practice," Katie replied, managing her own higher pair much easier, despite being such a clumsy person by nature. Just as they were sweeping down the lovely old staircase, Arc and Bobby appeared at the bottom, having brilliant timing for a pair of (probably sex-crazed) adolescent boys. "Hello Arc!" Katie called happily, leaving Nicole to smile awkwardly at Bobby.

Oh god. Now was definitely not a good time to be bra-less. "Um.." Nicole began, avoiding Bobby's eyes determinedly "Katie made me wear a dress... I didn't want to..." she finished, her eyes flicking hopefully to Bobby's.

Bobby grinned, pulling Nicole down the last few steps and pulling her into a one armed hug. "You look great Colie!" he whispered softly, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

Nicole blushed. "Oh, t-thank you..."

Katie took the warm hand Arch extended to her as she flounced down the last two steps. "You look really pretty tonight," He commented, somewhat taken aback by how much skin she was showing... but enjoying it all the same. He was going to enjoy not only being with her, but also getting to show her off... But this happy moment was ruined like so many others are, as Logan showed up.

All of the cutesy couple meetings were savagely interrupted as Logan whistled very loudly for everyone's attention. Pouting, and cursing grumpily under their breath, the students turned to pay attention to Logan as he entered the main room. Scott followed Logan in, hands on his hips as he surveyed the student's faces. After a few seconds of silence, a few sarcastic catcalls and wolf whistles sounded from some of the more rowdy students (including Pyro who happened to be the loudest of all) the reason for the sudden uproar was obviously, the pair's choice of 'chaperone' attire. Their outfits rose more than a few eyebrows. Both dressed in dark clothing, Logan in a particularly tight, dark blue short-sleeved shirt, black pants, his normal leather jacket, and an earring. And Scott adorned in an equally tight, white (lets hope he gets wet) v-necked shirt (not to mention a few stray chest hairs), and black pants, and the usual shady glasses, and a slight smirk of satisfaction.

Now that the chaperones had arrived everyone nearest the door began filing out to the bus, leaving Katie and Nicole and their dates at the back, (unfortunately) near the two older men. Katie was trying to keep from mentally comparing the undeniably hot Scott with her own Arch, feeling utterly disgusting when she realized how very hot her teacher was, and that he'd been lying on top of her just a couple of days ago...

Nicole and Logan somehow ended up near each other in line, which was definitely not a good thing. "Hmm... I wonder why I suddenly have the undeniable urge to puke... oh wait, never mind its just you Logan." Nicole muttered bitterly, mentally willing the asshole to go fuck himself and go away.

"It's great to see you as well." Logan countered, towering over Nicole in a scary manner and determinedly not looking at her. Feeling a bit miffed at the fact that he wouldn't look at her when he was talking to her, Nicole groped for another insult.

"Nice earring, does it make you feel any cooler?" she snapped, folding her arms over her chest in a self satisfied way. She could always find things about him to hate...

Smiling in an alarmingly charming way, Logan chuckled. "Are you implying that I'm already cool? Thank you. Oh, and by the way... I've noticed you've neglected to wear a bra tonight..."

Nicole blanched, not really liking the idea of Logan having any more to do with her chest-age. "Why, thank you for noticing," she commented in a scary-calm sort of way. "I knew you were a pervert but I didn't realize you'd stoop to checking out students." Looping her arm firmly with Bobby's Nicole made a great show of ignoring him and his last comment, when she really just wanted to curl up in a dark hole and cry.

Completely flabbergasted, Logan gaped at Nicole's retreating bare back that still bore his mark. His disbelief melting slightly, he smirked. _Still mine_. Was the entirely feral thought that flashed through his mind before Scott interrupted him.

"Oh, that's too bad... you were shot down. Don't expect her to save a dance for you now, Logan." he sniggered, waggling his eyebrows teasingly.

Logan glared at Scott. "Like I'd want to dance with her..." he muttered, stuffing his hands rather broodingly in his pockets.

Scott raised an eyebrow. "Really? You make a good show of attempting to get into her pants whenever you see her," he commented, enjoying the amusement at Logan's expense.

"Not that that wasn't a _great_ put down or anything... I'd like to plainly put this in a way you can understand. She's not wearing pants today, Scott." Logan growled, flashing a daring glare in Scott's direction. He'd very much like to put his trademarked, three clawed scratch through Scott's perfect white shirt. That'd shut him up.

Apparently this biting comment didn't dampen Scott's desire to further humiliate Logan. "Oh, so you've got easier access then. Is that what you're saying?" he laughed.

Flinching visibly, Logan gritted his teeth as he mentally agreed. _"Yes Scott, that's exactly what I'm saying."_ he snarled (not so) sarcastically.

Katie stifled a giggle. She was standing ahead of Nicole in line, close enough to hear the banter but far enough away that they probably didn't know she could. Unfortunately (or not so), by the time they reached the bus they could only find two open seats, separated.

"You sit down, Katie," Arch declared heroically, picking a spot to stand nearby.

"No." she replied, stubbornly.

"Yes."

"No. Sit down Arc." She replied, giving him a look. Arch sat. She promptly sat on his lap, wrapping his arm around her waist and leaning cozily against him. "There. Now we're both happy."

Somewhat awkwardly, Bobby and Nicole followed their example, Nicole shifting uncomfortably on Bobby's lap. "Are you uncomfortable? I can stand and I'll let you sit if you like..." he whispered softly in her ear. His breath was cold, but not unpleasantly so.

Jumping in surprise at the frostiness of his breath, Nicole squeaked and shook her head. "No! I'm fine! Its just I feel a little awkward... in a dress... on your lap... and... yeah..." she mumbled, trailing off.

Katie didn't look particularly awkward at all, leaning on Arch all cuddly like they'd been going out for months. He, on the hand, looked a tad uncomfortable, but not terribly interested in telling her to move her cleavage to a less easily observed spot.

Bobby was just looking at Nicole, wishing she could be more comfortable being a girl around him. "You look really pretty. Don't feel awkward, please..."

"I'm sorry... It's just... I've always acted very masculine when I'm around you and my guy friends... its sort of strange to be a girl like I'm supposed to be... around you, a guy." She bumbled, twiddling her thumbs. B

obby smiled sympathetically, rubbing the sides of Nicole's arms gently. "Just relax... its not any different than any other time that we've had fun together... except you're wearing a dress. That's all, and you look great."

Nicole smiled at him, and very carefully, as though she was expecting some sort of "ha! I lied!" punch line, because he was being much too nice to her, just too good to be true, leaned her head against his shoulder. It fit very nicely there, and he seemed to enjoy it.

Sighing softly and feeling extremely warm and snuggly, Nicole maintained this position throughout the whole bus ride. After an hour-long bus ride, the students were more than a little restless. Especially those who had their dates sitting on their laps. The male population of the bus was particularly glad to get off the bus and get the feeling back in their legs, not to mention their laps. The girls, on the other hand, weren't all that grateful to have to get up and walk around on their painfully high high-heeled shoes. Hopefully they could take them off in the club without too much of a problem about bare feet.

Unfortunately their seats were at the back of the bus, and they were nearly the last people to disembark. Katie, forcing Arc to go in front of her (to keep the line moving) was rather startled by the cool night air compared with the overly warm bus interior. She was also shocked by a good, stiff breeze that lifted her skirt before she had a chance to pull it down, and so gave Scott (who was behind her) a rather lovely view of her ass and some very skimpy, 'adult' lingerie.

They had arrived in the front of a rather popular nightclub of the small town that Xavier's was relatively close to, and was recommended because of its 'mutant friendly' tendencies. The nightclub was rather sketchily called, "The Black Panther" with advertisements to like: "singles' pole dancing available on Tuesdays and Thursdays, ask for Madeline" in neon lights in the front most display windows. One could hear the loud music through the walls, pulsing and throbbing like a heart beat. This was a place that wasn't exactly PG-13, and as Nicole suppressed a giggle upon reading the motto, she distinctly heard Logan behind her saying. "Jesus Christ... they've chosen a strip joint!"

"Your kind of place then, isn't it?" Scott commented dryly, with a small, sadistic smile before opening the door. Inside was as sketchy as the outside, dark and foggy with pulsing strobe lights and glow-in-the dark things. The music was currently a heavy, trippy techno, and the dance floor was filled with people getting hot and heavy to it.

"Well, this looks fun." Nicole murmured.

"Define 'fun'" Logan's voice growled from uncomfortably close behind her. Sighing, and snarling with disgust and annoyance, Nicole turned to face him.

"Fun, in the sense of the word meaning having a good time and generally avoiding you until the world's end." Nicole snapped irritably. Was there no escape from the creep! He had walked in on her unchanging, he slashed her to bits in the simulation room, and now he was following her into the one place where, if she didn't see Logan at all... it would be too soon.

Logan didn't look too keen on spending on any more time with Nicole either, though it irked him when she managed to get the last word. In some sort of misguided, feral way he was just trying to get her to give in to him, surrender and admit that she didn't hate him. Not that he realized, of course. Logan wasn't one to pay much attention to his subconscious.

Glaring at Logan, Bobby gently patted Nicole in the small of the back to get her to move. "C'mon... lets go find a table to put our stuff down on or something..." he called to her, Katie, and Arch loudly over the throb of the techno music. Nodding in agreement, the group fought their way through the dancing crowd in hopes of finding a table to put the girl's purses on and perhaps to let them get out of the death traps they called shoes.

They managed to find one another group was just leaving, and priding themselves on grabbing the only empty table in the club, Katie and Nicole went about wrestling with their vicious footwear. "I don't see why you girls bother with those shoes," Bobby commented, watching Nicole massage a chafing heel. Arch agreed, though Katie only rolled her eyes at them both.

"Its just... oh, you wouldn't understand. It's a girl thing…like chocolate and romantic comedies. You wouldn't understand."

"Well, if it's a girl thing then how come even _I_ don't understand why I chose to wear these shoes!" Nicole moaned pathetically, pouting balefully at her aching feet.

Rolling her eyes, Katie shook her head in dismay. "You're hopeless..." Katie grumbled, as she watched the boys exchange yet another confused look. Glancing around curiously, Nicole observed the nearby dancing mob. They all seemed to be having a good time, and a few of her fellow students had added themselves to the waves of partygoers. The music was quite fast and loud, very dance inspiring.

Nicole glanced at Katie. "You guys want to risk getting lost in the crowd to dance? I sort of want to... it looks..." she paused searching for a word to describe it. Somehow _erotic_ didn't seem like an appropriate word. "Exciting." she finished, a small twisted smile fixing itself on her face. This night was going to prove interesting...

Katie heartily agreed, and then the boys really didn't have any choice. It was more than a little awkward at first, with them trying not to jump right ahead into grinding with each other, and not really wanting to start getting all over someone else in their dates' view.

Scott and Logan were standing off to the sidelines, Logan not particularly patiently and Scott perfectly contentedly. Logan gave Scott a look. "So you're going to stand there all night?"

Scott gave Logan an equally disinterested look. "You can go grind with a student if you want to. Dark enough that for all you know it'll be Nicole."

"Watch it." growled Logan, flashing Scott an If-You-weren't-my-colleague-I-would-rip-your-heart out-and eat it for dinner, death glare.

Scott grinned in a self-satisfied way; apparently he had touched upon a nerve. "What? Just stating a fact..."Scott pushed, faking an innocent tone.

"Well," Logan sighed in a bored tone, "You can take that fact and shove it up your ass for all I care... I'm going to get a drink... and then I'm going to go dance. I might as well make it worth my while if I have to be stuck in this hell hole all night..." he grumbled, bumping none too gently into Scott purposefully on his way to the bar.

Scott just shook his head at Logan's retreating back, almost enjoying the opportunity to hate Logan in public. He'd probably give in and dance eventually, but for now he was going to stay on the 'moral high ground'. Besides, it was nice to be able to watch people, even if it was dark.

After fifteen - thirty minutes of dancing, Bobby announced he was going to go get drinks for everyone, and Arch slipped off to go to the bathroom. Katie, after convincing him to go let his wings down as well (as much as there wasn't a lot of room, he looked uncomfortable) was a bit happy to be on her own. Now she could find a hot stranger to grind with, without worrying about jealousy.

But just as she thought she could sneak off for a few minutes and come back with out being noticed, Nicole decided to rain on her parade. "Katie! Where are you going!" Nicole hissed, grabbing Katie by the arm and trying to pull her back. However she had a hard time at it since the pulse of the dancers around them tossed them around like a ship in traitorous waters. Nicole ended up losing her grip on Katie's arm and they became separated. "Damn it, now I'm alone! Wonder where Katie thinks she's going..."

Katie wasn't exactly sure where she was going, but it really didn't matter, as long as she was near some attractive looking men. The music was pulsing incessantly, with a beat that was practically forcing her to dance to it...

Nicole, realizing that it would be almost impossible to find Katie until it got lighter, gave up and decided to just dance where she was. Someone would find her.

After downing a stiff drink, Logan decided to tough it out in the mob of over zealous dancers. Though he wasn't exactly that bad of a dancer, it was awkward dancing with someone who you couldn't see. The strobe lights making it near impossible to see two feet in front of you at a time.

Meanwhile, Nicole was having a relatively good time. Finding her own rhythm, she let her body go with the flow. Allowing the beat to flow through her body, and race in her heart... though dancing by one's self while among hundreds of potential dance partners was slightly awkward. Not for long however, since apparently someone found her singular movements quite intriguing. This person was standing near the edge of her space, and she (after a few moments of watching him (it being most obviously a him)) decided to let him into her space...

Terribly intrigued by this shapely, singular dancer Logan stood there on the sidelines, watching her move... until she (surprisingly) invited him to join her with a few wordless moves.

Squeezing through the crowd to get to her, Logan approached the mysterious dancer. She motioned for him to lean closer. Obeying, he maneuvered closer to her writhing body. She bumped ('accidentally') a tantalizing pair of hips teasingly against his.

"You were watching me." came a soft voice in his ear. My, her dress was short... and thin... She allowed him to move closer.

"I like the way you dance." he replied, trying to remain calm. This was an interesting specimen...

"Would you like to dance _with_ me?" she asked him; voice a light purr over the beating music. Logan nodded, before realizing that she couldn't see him particularly well.

"Yes I would," he replied, looking over what he _could_ see very appreciatively. Maybe being forced to chaperone the dance would have an upside, after all...

"Well then, be my guest... do anything with me that you want..." she sighed. Logan felt her hands find his, and allowed them to lead his hands around her waist. A small waist. This was nice. Logan found his chin resting comfortably in the crook of her neck, breathing in the sweet smell of her flesh. She smelled like salty sweat, something sweet, and musky, and a faint flower scented perfume. Intoxicating. Feeling his breath catch in his throat, he let his hand wander down her side and come to rest on a soft stretch of thigh in the space between her panties and her knee high stockings. He bit back a groan. _So_ soft… He could hear her breathing becoming heavier. "You did say _anything_..." he purred, feeling slightly satisfied with their position...

Nicole let herself press against him as they moved to the music, slowly at first. This was definitely the best part of the evening so far... Her mysterious stranger smelled very good, she noted, and his nicely muscled torso felt good against her back. It really wasn't fair that someone so cool probably wouldn't be attracted to her if he could see her... and she'd never see him again, either. Damn...

Logan's breath grew harsher and more ragged, part from the exertion of such hard, close dancing and some from the undeniable excitement she was causing him... Sliding his hand a bit higher up on her thigh, he moaned lightly, wishing it would be a bit more convenient to drag this beautiful creature of the night back to his room...

Meanwhile, Katie hadn't exactly found herself the sexy dancing partner she had wanted. What she did find however, was quite a surprise. After getting herself a rather warm iced water from the bar, she had turned to return to the dance floor when she bumped into a particularly hot and sweaty man who had just emerged from the mob.

"Oh, I'm sorry I wasn't watching where I was going..." he mumbled. Katie blinked. Scott? Scott's hair was in complete disarray, though not in an unpleasant way... and his white shirt was rumpled and sticking to his perspiring body. Katie blushed. _Ohhh so sexy..._

"Having... fun?" she managed to squeak out at him, a bit taken aback at how attractive he looked, sweaty and rumpled. It made her suddenly very self-conscious, and she ran a hand through her hair nervously.

Scott laughed, "Yeah, I guess you could call it fun." he chuckled. He ran his hand through his own hair in a sexy way, and readjusted his dark glasses.

Katie's blush deepened, "Dance with anyone?"

Raising an inquiring eyebrow, Scott smirked. "I didn't dance with anyone in particular, no. So..." he cleared his throat. They stared at each other in silence, listening to the music. Katie swayed slightly to the beat as they stared at each other, and she could see his foot tapping. "So, is this dance turning out the way you guys wanted it to?" Scott asked, as he nodded at the bartender. The bartender busied himself with getting Scott a glass of wine and handed it to him.

Katie smiled. "Well... yes... and no" she mumbled, unintentionally looking him up and down.

Frowning slightly, Scott remembered _that _dream about her (Katie). Feeling so hot... with a soft voice sighing his name repeatedly in his ear... never had his name sounded so sweet...

"... Scott? Are you alright?"

Shaking the images from his head, Scott smiled. "Yes, yes I'm fine... just the alcohol getting to me a bit... I think I'll go out and get some air." he lied through his teeth. _Why must you torture me you little temptress_ his mind moaned, as he made a break for it, losing himself in the dancing crowd. Perhaps if he danced some more he could find some other girl to take the edge off...

Blinking in a confused manner as she watched Scott scamper away, Katie decided it was about time to do a little more dancing, as a particularly lively techno beat was introduced. Katie found herself a space somewhat on the edges of a large group, wanting to feel included but not smothered by the mass of limbs (and wanting to be available in case any particularly attractive men came around). Ignoring what everyone else was doing, she began her own (slightly off-beat) swaying, casting around some come-hither glances and hoping to be noticed.

Just then there came a soft, deep voice in her ear. "Now, how could such a pretty girl be off beat..?" the man murmured softly into her ear. Arms encircled Katie's waist and stopped her movements.

Unsure of whether to be insulted or feel special for the "pretty" comment, Katie blushed. She recovered rather quickly however, managing to breathily whisper, "Could you take the lead then?"

A soft sexy laugh blew hot air on the back of her neck, making her shiver pleasantly. "My pleasure.."

Scott had counted himself rather lucky to have found such a pretty girl all on her own. She couldn't be one of his students, he was sure he'd recognize one of them even in this half-non-light, and so she was brilliant release. He could touch her all he wanted; maybe manage to get his dream out of his head for a bit... Slowly, Scott guided his dance partner into a slow, grinding rhythm. Holding her back closely to his chest, he tried to close his mind to the images that were still eating away at the back of his mind. Longingly he slid his hand down her stomach the way he had in his dreams...

Gasping, Katie felt her body tremble against the stranger's. His hand explored downward... somehow finding its way underneath the skirts of her dress, and stroking up her thigh to fiddle playfully with the lace of her lingerie. Feeling slightly dirty, but at the same time not denying that it felt lovely, Katie let slip a soft moan.

Her 'mystery man' laughed softly, "My my, what a **naughty** pair of panties you're wearing..."

Meanwhile, Nicole bit back a moan of her own, almost wishing she hadn't found such a brilliant 'Mysterious Stranger', the temptation to go farther was too strong... oh, but he was **_good_**! For once, Nicole understood why people had one-night stands. She wanted him, he wanted her, and if they weren't in (such) public it would too easy to get carried away.

Logan, after quite a few hot & heavy moments, decided that it was probably best if he pulled away before he got carried away... Fucking her on the dance floor wouldn't be a good idea, and it was definitely where they seemed to be headed. Reluctantly taking his hands off her lovely body and stepping back, he grinned at her. "Sorry about this, but-" The lights in their area had suddenly brightened and ...

Nicole's face was the one that flashed in front of him as she turned to face him, her eyes were closed, and her mouth parted as she panted softly for breath. It was _her_ dress that was oddly lifted on one side, and _her _soft, golden, bared thigh that bore the mark of his hands. "Oh my god." he groaned. _Oh my god, this has to be a nightmare! Please don't open your eyes! _

Slightly disappointed, Nicole stopped to catch her breath and turned to face him. She would at least like to see the face of the man who touched her in such a way that it made her feel weak...

Her eyes opened wide, and she found herself even more short of breath than before. Oh my god... could it really have been Logan this whole time? The man she'd been grinding against so pleasurably? The man she'd (more importantly) let touch her in ways that she'd never let Bobby? "You..." she breathed at last, beyond absolutely stunned. _This can't be… not Logan... not Logan touching... Oh my god..._ Nicole struggled for breath, and tears stung her eyes. "You... it was you the whole time!" she nearly screamed these words as panic rose in her throat as well as bile.

Logan looked just as thoroughly disgusted and surprised as she did. And quite frankly, Nicole didn't know whether this was good or whether the painful wail that she issued was caused by the utmost disgust that shone in Logan's eyes. _I knew... even if it was Logan or not, that if he saw me he wouldn't like me... _Nicole took another step back, still utterly stunned by all that had happened. How... How could he? How could she have _let_ him... how could she have even _liked_ what he was doing? Oh... It was simply too much for her, and Nicole had one last, small wail before she fell into a dead faint

Numb with horror, Logan scooped the (undeniably soft) unconscious Nicole up into his arms. _Definitely time to leave... have to find Scott..._ he thought through the blur of mental panic. How could he have...? With a student...? Worst of all was that, that was the most aroused he could ever remember ever being (and still was...) with a woman. Secretly, he felt embarrassed by the quite large lump that had made its appearance in his pants as a result of Nicole's actions (and his own but he wasn't about to admit that)

Meanwhile, Scott was having a bit more fun than Logan was, though he had no idea what angst was going on. But he did have some idea of how late it was getting, and decided to cut it short (which also kept him from getting too carried away). Pressing his mouth to the side of her neck, he kissed her passionately, feeling her twist with enjoyment. "Sorry, but I've got to run." he murmured in her ear, breath fanning gently across her sensitive neck and ears.

Quite as suddenly as he had arrived, Katie felt the heat of the stranger leave her back and lower regions. Panting, she struggled to catch her breath, a small grin of contentment lingering on her face as she felt where his lips had touched her skin. She shivered,_ o0o0o0o I'm going to be having dreams about this for weeks... just wait until I tell Nicole about this one..._ Still grinning she made her way in the direction of the bar. All that erotic dancing makes a girl thirsty. She never reached the bar however.

"Katie!" It was Scott; and he looked even more ruffled than before, his shirt was now un-tucked from his pants. He looked worried. "It's time to go, everyone's heading for the bus. Nicole's fainted."

Katie looked shocked, eyes widening and mouth opening slightly. "Why?" she gasped, hurrying to go grab her and Nicole's shoes and bags.

"I don't know," Scott replied, still looking as worried as it is possible to be when looking like one was this close to having sex in a bathroom. Watching her as she knelt to put her shoes back on, he was utterly shocked when, seeing yet-another flash of her lingerie, to recognize a handprint as none other than his own...

Groaning, he smacked his hand to his forehead, feeling the shame make his stomach drop unpleasantly_. It was her! I can't believe it... and I did that to her... While thinking about her! ... With a student! I'm utter scum... I'm worse than Logan... this is an all time low..._ He straightened his face when Katie turned to face him. She frowned slightly and she touched his arm lightly. Jumping he made an indistinct noise that sounded like "Worf!" (in an failed attempt to say "woah fuck")

"Are you ok Scott? You're a bit... off" she laughed, smiling sympathetically.

"Yeah... Just a bit..." he agreed, with a forced smile. Inside he was still beating himself up over it, utterly stunned that he could have been so low... He heaved a sigh of relief when she brushed past him to run to the bus, to find out how Nicole was.

Following at a more reasonable pace, Scott tried to think of a way to excuse himself for his behavior... and found none. Maybe Logan could explain away having a hand up a student's skirt while thinking of fucking her, knowing who she was, what she was, how old she was, but Scott couldn't. Finding a seat he sat down heavily, pressing his forehead against the cold glass of the window. Damn...

As Scott decidedly wallowed in his own self-pity; he felt a dead weight settle itself in the seat next to him. It was Logan, and he didn't exactly look like himself either. He was pale as a ghost, and looked as if he were in the same boat of misery that Scott was. "I think the theme for tonight would be ' teachers gone amok' " Scott mumbled weakly.

Turning to stare emotionless at Scott, Logan nodded. " So, what did you do to make the 'pure as gold' attitude sail out of the window, Scott?"

Scott groaned, not really wanting to talk about it with Logan, but wanting to get it off his chest all the same. "Had my hand up a student's skirt... really far up. I'd been trying to find someone to take my mind off the dream I'd had about her... and ended up getting her instead." Oh, it sounded so simple put like that!

Despite his mental dismay, Logan grinned and laughed roughly. "Who was it?" he asked, elbowing poor Scott in the ribs.

Scott smiled in a very scarily emo way, turning away from the window he gave Logan the scariest twisted smirk that was ever possible. "Do you really think that I would tell you, Logan?" he questioned dangerously.

"It was Katie, wasn't it "

"Yes..." was the miserable answer. With this said Scott returned to banging his head roughly against the bus window.

"Yeah, well I pretty much did the same thing to Nicole... if it makes you feel any better..."

"You win. You are scummier that I am" Scott groaned.

Logan laughed a bit, hollowly. "Well, that makes me feel loads better about my evening. I'm scummier than Scott, and it makes him feel good about himself."

Scott snorted. "I can see why Nicole fainted when she realized who you were." At least Katie didn't have any idea of what had gone on, though it didn't help his conscience any. Now, she still thought he was a better person than he really was...

Not that Logan didn't agree with Scott, he did feel a lot like scum. Though not in a guilty scummy way... more like in an, I need to take a billion showers now scummy. He groaned, hiding his face in his hands. Images and memories of the heat, the smell, and the tastes of her body still lingered. Dangling themselves tantalizingly before his closed eyes like a piece of juicy meat in front of a starving dog.

Nobody else looked like they'd had much of a fun evening either. Many people had observed their dates hitting on someone else, and most of these previously happy couples were sitting in silence now, brooding. Some of these more than others. Bobby looked especially confused, as his lovely date had not come-to yet. He had no idea exactly what had happened, although he did have a few ideas...

Katie seemed to be the only, remotely happy person sitting on that bus. Safely squashed in a seat comfortably with Arch and the unconscious Nicole. Who finally decided to come-to as the bus rode over a particularly jolting bump.

'Uuhhhnnnmmm" Nicole moaned, opening her eyes slowly.

"Nicole! Finally... what happened?" Katie squealed, scrambling over Arch to get closer to her groggy friend.

Nicole moaned, sitting up and holding a hand to her head. "Whaat? Where am I?"

"Nicole, you're on the bus!" Katie replied as though that should be stupidly obvious. "So what happened?" Nicole only moaned again, not really wanting to think about it all again, but it was so damn hard not to... Oh, those hands...! Nicole closed her eyes again, covering her face with her hands as her face burned with hell fire.

" ... Nicole... did something bad happen? All I saw when I came out to the bus was Logan holding your limp, lifeless body with a weird look on his face... are you hurt anywhere? Omigod did you get raped!" Katie went on and on anxiously.

Groaning, Nicole shook her head as she fought the memories of those devilish hands to answer Katie's questions. "No... No I did not get raped..." Nicole finally muttered, still rubbing her face as though she was trying to rub away the memory.

"Then what HAPPENED?" Katie asked incessantly, biting her lips and looking still extremely worried. "Did Logan do something?"

"HAHaha! NO NO!" squealed Nicole, standing up in her panic. Suddenly she had the need to be somewhere else. On a cliff... in bed crying, anywhere but here. On a bus. Lying to Katie about something that she guessed right about. Her eyes fell on the back of Logan's head and her stomach turned over. Miserably, she sat down and whimpered allowing her lower lip to tremble. "Yes..." she whispered.

Katie made a small, sympathetic whimper and grabbed Nicole by the shoulders in one of those tight, sobby-sort of hugs girls are so good at. Nicole didn't look like she really wanted to be touched right now, but that she appreciated the gesture. "What did he do?" Katie asked, quieter and not letting go.

Sniffling, Nicole sighed. Perhaps if she told Katie it wouldn't seem like such a big deal. She seriously needed to talk to someone. "Well... at first... I didn't know it was him... we were just dancing... but... Katie... we were grinding... grinding with Logan... Of course it was dark so I couldn't see who I was with... and his hands... they were everywhere... and ... I liked it! I feel like he's just taken another piece of my dignity away from me... there's no escape." By the end Nicole was not so teary eyed, but upset all the same...

Katie held Nicole tighter, though it was more to make Katie feel better. "Oh, Nicole..." How would she have felt if her mysterious stranger had turned out to be someone she hated? Or a teacher? Katie shuddered a bit, understanding some of what Nicole must feel. _Oh, but you'd have liked it if it was Scott..._ as nasty voice in the back of her head purred. Really liked it...

"So... did you have fun at least?" Nicole asked, somewhat bitterly. Though she hated to admit... she was having fun until she realize whom she was having it with... Katie smiled, remembering her own stranger of the night.

"Yeah..." she gushed, grinning in an eerily goofy manner.

Nicole raised an eyebrow, "Find your own handsome stranger, eh Katie? " she laughed. Seconds later she realized who she had hinted at being handsome. Katie giggled. Why did it have to be Logan whose hands burned paths of heat and pleasure along Nicole's thighs. Why did it have to be his breath that tickled her neck and shoulders? His nicely muscled torso that felt lovely rubbing up against her tender back... She shuddered and groaned. "My life is an utter nightmare.."

"There are some good parts too, right?" Katie cajoled, though she knew it was rather useless. Nicole was having one of those self-pitying moments, and she wasn't going to listen to anything else. Bobby didn't look very happy either, obviously not liking the idea of Logan having his hands all over what had been Bobby's date.

Just as everyone was getting to the most miserable climax of self loathing, the bus stopped and the ruffled and slightly miserable looking, Scott stood up to tell them that everything that happened that evening would not be repeated to Professor Xavier.

This lightened the mood considerably, and the couples were prepared to forgive each other over some good, wholesome food and a good night's sleep. Nicole and Katie gratefully exited the bus and entered the warm main hall. Walking rather stiffly in their blistered feet and icky shoes, they filed into the dinner area, where there were light, after-dance sort of snacks like warm cookies and biscuits.

Sitting down, Katie grabbed a biscuit with one hand while gently giving Nicole a reassuring pat with the other (Logan's seat being rather obnoxiously nearby). Nicole sighed, her shoulders sagging. Snatching up a chocolate chip cookie, she stared at it moodily. Why did Logan always have to get in her way! He always found some way to ruin her life. Whether it's yelling at her for no reason, or grinding her in a night club... You'd think he liked being around her or something.. The stupid pervert..

Looking up she caught his eyes, as he'd obviously been looking at her... Nicole didn't care whether he was looking because he was worried about her blowing up at him, or if he was trying to see if she was ok, or if he just liked the way she looked, she was sick of him! Utterly fed up with his brutish immaturity! Glaring at him, she chucked the cookie she'd bit at his head, watching as he recoiled in surprise and it glanced off his shoulder.

Grinning with satisfaction, she felt the sweet revenge and content in seeing the enraged expression on Logan's face. She'd gotten chocolate on his precious leather jacket. Smirking, she turned to Katie to see her expression of surprise and amusement.

Katie couldn't help feeling that Logan and Nicole's bickering was the result of perhaps something entirely different from hate...


	8. Chapter 8: Hangover From Hell

Katie got up the next morning somewhat frazzled. They'd gotten to bed extremely late, and the alarm had sounded much too early for her taste. Dragging a brush through her rumpled, morning-after looking hair, she made an icky face at the mirror. Stupid mornings. Throwing on a random black spaghetti strap over her lime green bra (so that it showed both lacy green bits and cleavage) she threw on her favorite, tight jeans, & matching lime green knee socks, before wandering down to her first class, having missed breakfast. (And making a mental note never to let Nicole reset the alarm again).

When Katie entered the first class of the day (which happened to be history, bleck . ) she went to sit next to Nicole, who sat fairly close to the teacher's desk. Their normal teacher of History, a man who could teleport anywhere in the blink of an eye and a puff of blue smoke, was out sick with the flu. Their substitute was a sleepy, rumpled, and somewhat hung over Scott, who groggily told them to just sit quietly and take notes from the chapter.

Unfortunately for poor Scott's pounding headache, the students all immediately assumed that they pretty much had a free period. So they all began to chatter rather noisily about nothing in particular... a few subjects that popped up were the dance... and the latest scandal about Logan. "I heard he nearly banged one of the students... can you believe that! And he didn't know who it was because it was dark!"

Nicole groaned some, hiding her face in a convenient notebook (which happened to be upside down, not that she noticed). Katie patted her reassuringly. "Nicole, its ok... No one else has to know," she whispered gently, leaning forward.

Scott, who was sitting at the desk staring off into space, was brought crashing back to earth as Katie unknowingly flashed him more cleavage than she would have wanted to. Groaning in shame, Scott let his head on the table with a loud thud.

A few of the student's heads turned to seek the source of the noise. There came a few whispers of " Is he asleep!" and "He must have a hang over... poor guy... he had to chaperone... must have had one drink too many..." Sighing, Scott picked his head up gingerly and the muttering immediately died away and students busily picked up their previous conversations. Scott's eyes roamed over to Katie again, taking in the red highlights in her hair, and the soft, creamy pale complexion. _It's bad enough having erotic dreams about her... but... to go and have touched her thighs and panties in real life is totally different_...he mentally sighed, letting his shoulders sag and his eyes longingly drink in more and more of Katie.

Katie, completely unaware of her observer, proved to be a good model. Tossing her hair to one side she leaned her head on one hand, stretching out her neck, and dropped her hand to rest on her thigh, enticingly. She continued the whispered conversation with Nicole, who looked thoroughly miserable (as usual).

Scott tried to tear his eyes away, really not wanting to be so damn obvious, but found he could not. It wouldn't do him any good if he got all turned on in class, but she was too pretty not to look at... (or think about)... Sighing, poor Scott allowed himself the least bit of pleasure as he continued to stare (in his opinion) quite openly in Katie's direction. And, however inconvenient the circumstances, it wasn't exactly his fault that he was close enough to over hear her conversation with Nicole. He saw Nicole grin for the first time all morning.

"Ooohhh... Katie let someone other than her precious Arch touch her? Never mind fondle her most prized panties that she saves for special occasions... that's Naughty..." Nicole teased, smirking as Katie blushed beet red.

Katie twitched some. "Well... I really hadn't planned on letting him touch them... but I got carried away!" She defended. "I mean, it was dark & hot &... well... It felt good, alright?" she exclaimed, blushing (if possible) even deeper. Nicole just laughed, ticking off Katie further. "Well, at least I wasn't letting a teacher fondle me!" Katie squeaked, irrationally.

The smile slipped from Nicole's face rather quickly, replaced by a slightly eerie haunted look.. As if even her own emotion over the matter being discussed disturbed her. Scott smiled slightly bitterly. _Logan certainly has made and impression on our dear Nicole... and I'm not at all entirely sure whether it's a bad or a rather arousing one for her..._ The haunted look disappeared as well, and Nicole frowned. "It's not like you would know... whether or not it were a teacher or not... as it was dark... and he left before you could even see his face..." she declared self-righteously.

Katie answered quicker than she should, obviously having thought this over already. "Well, the only other teacher there was Scott, and even if he wasn't outside I don't think he'd be the type to feel up random girls in the dark." Scott, listening, nearly started laughing at this... oh, it was too much! Her, defending him!

Nicole continued to grin, sensing their teacher's attention. He was listening to their conversation... and the thought that she had just come upon was quite curious indeed... "You don't think so?" she challenged, quirking a brow. Katie blushed as Scott jumped slightly, hearing Nicole's amused voice in the back of his mind_. 'Just what naughty things have you been up to eh, Scottie?'_ he could almost hear the smirk in her voice as it mocked him. However, that was the only thing that she said to him, though he could have sworn that he saw her raise her eyebrows in his direction. Scott tried not to panic, wishing that Nicole had picked a better time to invade his mind... he had private things in here! Like his dream... and the dance... and all the things he'd thought in between. It was one thing if he told someone, it was entirely another to go snooping in his head! **_Get out of my mind, Nicole_**. He admonished firmly.

Katie apparently missed that Nicole was asking someone else. "No, of course he wouldn't. He's a good person. You know, unlike Logan?" She wasn't sure why she felt she had to defend him, or if it had to do with wanting him to have been her mysterious stranger...

Nicole grinned broadly. "Yes, I'm quite aware of Scott's abundance of a moral center and Logan's lack thereof... but that still doesn't dismiss the fact that every man has undeniable... needs... you know... like the need to have something warm and soft wrapped up in his arms..." she pretended to gush in a mushy dramatized voice. She fluttered her eyelashes dramatically, and couldn't help but flash a knowing grin in Scott's direction_. Don't deny that you know that I know what you did to Katie last night Scott..._

Katie squirmed a bit uncomfortably, as there was no way she could prove Nicole wrong. There was also a part of her that was extremely confused as to whether she wanted to be that warm, soft thing wrapped up in Arch's or Scott's arms... Tingling a bit at both ideas, unsure which was better, she did not reply.

**_Get out of my head! _**Scott repeated, trying desperately to think of anything but Katie. **_Or I'll think about something you really won't want to see!_**

'_Oh really? Hmmmm.' ,_was the teasing answer and Scott couldn't help but mentally kick himself. That was a stupid thing to suggest! Frowning, Scott turned to look at Nicole, who was purposefully avoiding his eye, despite the broad grin that slowly invaded her face.

**_Dammit Nicole, I'm not exactly in the mood for this right now!_** He snapped mentally sighing in exasperation. He liked Nicole well enough... but it was sure as hell annoying when she chose to be a tease about something that he was trying to deny, when he clearly had a bad, pounding headache.

_Well, excuuuuuse me._ came the response, though the amused tone never left her voice. Clearly, she was thoroughly enjoying this. It was after all, an amusing way to spend her study period.

Wanting to glare at her but not wanting to give Nicole any reason to explain the situation to the entirely oblivious Katie, Scott put his head in his hands and gingerly rubbed his temples. _So... have anything else interesting in here?_ Nicole asked, sounding like she was mentally grinning. _Think about her much?_

Thinking as hard as he could about blank white sheets of paper, Scott preformed the mental equivalent of sticking his fingers in his ears and chanting 'la la la la I can't hear you.'

Rolling her eyes Nicole allowed him one more statement from her before she left his head. '_Oh, that's mature...haha...sorry Scott... I can't help it. I'm bored, I'm a teenager, and I have nothing else better to do with my life than nosing into what is clearly your business... but if I catch you drooling openly in Katie's direction, I feel that it is my civic duty to beat you to a pulp'. _With this said, she closed the mental door with a satisfying snap.

Finding the idea of Nicole beating him to a pulp rather amusing, Scott looked up and caught entirely serious eye contact with Nicole. Katie, realizing that there was a reason no one was talking to her, also eyed her friend, though a whole lot more suspiciously.

"Nicole, are you talking to someone?" She asked petulantly, at being left out of something.

Nicole jumped, and her insides gave a guilty little squirm at having left out her best friend. Though, it would have raised more than Katie's eyebrows if Nicole were to suddenly start discussing openly the fact that, she knew it was Scott who had played so naughtily with Katie's undergarments the previous night. "No, just... day dreaming..." she mumbled dismissively, not giving Scott the satisfaction of being outwardly embarrassed about being caught talking to him mentally.

Katie smirked, " Oh really, about whom...?"

"WHAT!"

"You were daydreaming about someone, obviously. But whom...?" Katie's smirk widened. She could be nice, and leave this with a comment about Bobby, or she could be really mean about this...

"I was NOT!" Nicole protested, stuck.

"Was it about the way you felt all warm and soft wrapped in Logan's arms with his hands up your skirt?"

Nicole gaped at her like a goldfish, opening and closing her mouth, speechless. The blush that rose on her cheeks, she assured herself, was from anger not embarrassment. " I.. what? No. why would I..." Nicole spluttered unintelligibly. Why would she daydream about that? Even so, the truth was that she hadn't been daydreaming at all... but even the suggestion of her willingly daydreaming about Logan's dirty, devilish,( _big, warm, and tender_.. her subconscious added, )gross hands up her skirt and touching her more.. private areas was extremely embarrassing if not very rude..

"Why? Because you liked it, obviously..." Katie replied as though this was obvious. "That's why you let him, wasn't it?"

"That... that was before... before I knew..." Nicole protested.

"You see, girls have undeniable needs, you know. Like being warm and soft wrapped in a pair of big, strong arms..." Katie continued, grinning wickedly.

With some reluctance, Nicole subconsciously agreed. The way she had felt in Logan's arms before she had come to realize it was him had definitely filled that need, if not for a short while. '_And that's why,'_ the sly voice at the back of her head chuckled, '_You so willingly let a stranger touch you like that. Even though you'd never even seen his face. Let alone learn his **name**...'_ Nicole let a ragged breath exhale through her clenched teeth with a hiss. She narrowed her eyes angrily at Katie's wicked, grinning face. " Ooooh... you're evil..." she muttered resentfully.

Katie grinned good spiritedly, holding her hands up in mock defeat, "Hey, don't look at me... I wasn't the evil one who had his hands up your decidedly short skirt." she laughed at Nicole's completely flabbergasted look.

Nicole blushed a deeper shade of crimson. " I didn't know it was him alright!" she squealed, gesticulating wildly. It wasn't her fault dammit! Why oh, why did Logan have to be such a great, big, pervert that he needed to go and feel up random girls he didn't even know in dark nightclubs!

Scott muffled a laugh, trying not to let on that he was still listening to their conversation. He'd liked how neatly Katie had skewered Nicole on that point, and had nearly laughed again as she'd admitted she was evil. _Oh, yes, she really is evil to tempt me so..._ He thought, wondering how Katie would reply if pressured on how she'd felt with him touching her beneath her skirt... Guiltily, he almost willed Nicole to push the point. He wanted very dearly to know what sort of effect he had had on his attractive student. Wistfully, he almost wished he had the power to read minds as Nicole did. For he surely knew how he had felt about the whole ordeal... as the memory of her soft skin, like heated velvet beneath his willing fingers, tortured him so.

Nicole smirked as if pleased by a sudden, (and what looked) evil notion. "Well Katie, do tell... is it much more pleasant to have your mystery-man disappear after having fondling your underwear so eagerly with his deft, hot fingers?" she whispered, adding a husky, teasing undertone to her voice as she made a face that was clearly meant to look like a girl very close to orgasm.

A very flattering, but very red flush rushed up Katie's cheeks. "Nicole!" she hissed, and Scott was sure that Katie flicked an anxious glance in his direction, "Not so loud!"

Nicole, knowing full well Scott was listening and glad he was, changed her orgasm-face to a grin even evil-er than Katie had. "Was it any better with him leaving you all hot and bothered? Leading you on like that, without even kissing you good night?"

Katie shivered. She had hoped that her mysterious stranger would have lingered longer... Blushing deeper, she did not reply, but her answer was written on her face.

Nicole greatly fought the bubble of near insane laughter that threatened to break the surface. Even though it made her guilty to see Katie glare resentfully at her, it gave her a great sense of satisfaction to see the deep red blush on Katie's face. It was payback for Katie teasing her, and Katie should have known full well that Nicole would get her back with a vengeance. Calming down, she smiled apologetically at Katie. " Sorry Katie..." she sighed, though not thoroughly looking it, " You know I can't just sit here and take your remarks about Logan with out getting you back and teasing you about S-your mystery-man." quickly, she mentally sighed with relief. She'd almost let it slip..

Katie nodded at Nicole, understanding perfectly well, though she was a little confused about the "s". Had Nicole been about to say Scott, to try and get Katie back with another teacher? But her mystery man wasn't Scott, and it didn't make any sense. Whatever. Katie decided that whatever confused and twisted workings that went on in Nicole's mind should stay there, and were no concern of Katie's.

As the bell rang, Scott sighed a genuine sigh of relief. Thank the lord. He watched the students go with an unnatural amount of relief and happiness. Perhaps now he could tend to his headache... and try and rid his mind of Katie.


	9. Chapter 9: Lips Of An Angel

The duo whiled the rest of the day away as usual, scurrying from class to class and occasionally stopping here and there between classes to chat with Bobby or a passing by Arch. However, the rest of the day went by rather uneventfully, save bumping rather unexpectedly into Logan as they entered the dinning hall for dinner. Nicole handled this situation rather badly, Katie thought as she had watched Nicole blush crimson at the sight of Logan's unwelcome face. Logan didn't exactly look all that happy to see them either. Rather, he looked as if they had both interrupted a very important train of thought, and he scowled eyeing them both with distaste. Katie could feel the usual Logan remark coming on... however it didn't come! Unusually, Logan only brushed past the passive Katie, and rather flustered Nicole with a soft grumble of "Excuse me."

Nicole looked shocked. Excuse me? That's all she got for her troubles? The man had shoved his hand up her skirt and stroked her thighs, rather enthusiastically, she might add, while grinding her in the dark... and all she could get from him was an "Excuse me? You're in my way, kindly move?" Well, if he thought he could brush her off that easily.. he was clearly mistaken... vengeance would be hers... she would get him back for this... she'd _make_ him apologize if it were the last thing she did.

Katie blinked a bit, then grabbed Nicole by the shoulder. "Nicole... relax!" She knew Nicole extremely well, and she knew Nicole's feelings towards Logan. "You can't just go tearing after Logan and start trying to beat him up to make him apologize!" Nicole sometimes felt like it was Katie that could read minds, as Katie continued ranting. "You are going to go to dinner like a NORMAL PERSON, and you are going to forget for TWO SECONDS about Logan." Katie finished. "Or you'll regret it."

Nicole gaped at Katie's sudden burst of insightfulness. How had she known that she was thinking those kinds of things? Nicole's gape faded to a frown. Her sudden need for revenge surprised even herself... but this sudden show of emotion towards Logan as she undoubtedly knew Katie had sensed.. was bad. Emotions were bad. Especially emotions, vengeful or other wise, towards Logan in particular.. could lead to disaster. Nicole blinked at her sudden realization, but just as quickly realized that, she didn't care. "I hate him." she growled softly, " And I'm going to make him pay."

"You can hate him all you want. But you can't attack him! All it does it make things worse. You can't win against a teacher! And all you'll do is really, really piss him off. And it does not pay to make him pissed at you! Can't you just... ignore him or something? Please?" Katie pleaded, dragging Nicole to her seat at the table.

With a huff of rage, Nicole sat in her seat. She crossed her arms over her chest in a stubborn gesture, but she relented. " Oh... I suppose I don't have a choice.." she mumbled, throwing Logan the most vicious look she could muster as soon as she caught his eye.

Katie sighed with relief, smiling at her very willful friend. "No. You don't."

The dinner that night had a summery theme for absolutely no reason, grilled steaks, potatoes, and popsicles. Nicole tore into her rare steak with vigor, enjoying imagining it as Logan's face as it bled. Scott had yet another immense pang of guilt as he watched Katie suck at her popsicle, wishing that they didn't serve such suggestive food.

Despite Katie's efforts, Nicole simply refused to pay attention to anything other than Logan's hateful face. And quite obviously as Katie observed, Logan was very aware of Nicole's spiteful glances, and he didn't exactly look like the happiest man on earth.

Meanwhile, Logan was expressing his exasperation at Nicole's behavior with a slightly inattentive Scott, who had unwillingly found a blues brother-friend in Logan as they had both shared their troubles with each other recently. "I mean, I know she freaking hates my guts, but the least she could do is stop STARING at me like that!" he growled, declaring the word 'staring' loudly enough for her to hear, while pointedly staring right back spitefully, as if to get her to take the hint.

Scott smirked, tearing his guilty eyes from Katie's progress on her popsicle, snorting with amusement. "Logan, lets take into consideration that you've had your dirty hands up and down her thighs and skimmed her panties quite perverted-ly in a dark night club. Now, lets wonder exactly why she's glaring at you." he brandished his fork in Logan's face, poking him in the chest with it. I mean really, the man could be unbelievably dense sometimes...

Logan brushed away Scott's fork, indignant. "My hand are not dirty!" he protested self-righteously, still half-glaring at Nicole.

Scott rolled his eyes, not that Logan could tell. "You still groped her in public, and I don't think that would make anyone want to buy you a present afterwards." Logan really needed to grow-up some, and realize that not every girl was going to flop down and spread her legs if Logan smiled at them right.

Logan's lip curled unpleasantly as he cast Nicole yet another exasperated glance. "It's not like I knew it was her, I just thought that.." he began, eyeing her ruefully when she finally turned away apparently to answer a question that Katie had asked her, trying to quell the notion that he rather liked the way Nicole's short, dark brown hair just barely brushed her cheek. A strange urge to brush it behind her ear overwhelmed him and he quickly scrambled to quell the feeling that had caused his stomach to clench rather pleasantly...

"That she was just some other girl that you could take back to your room, throw down, and have wild, hot sex with? " Scott finished his sentence rather ruthlessly. "Really Logan, It's not like every woman that you ever look at in a flattering way will lay themselves at your feet and declare themselves as yours." he sighed, feeling as if he were scolding a bad child that dearly needed a good spanking.

Before Logan could think of any brilliant replies, dinner was over. Decidedly ignoring Scott's existence, Logan waited for the massive crush of students leaving the hall for their free time before they had to be in bed.

Katie, trying to keep Nicole distracted from Logan's existence and failing rather miserably, had almost given up when Arch appeared at her elbow. "Hey, Katie, um.." He began, looking cutely awkward. "Would you like to take a walk in the garden with me?"

Katie, brightening, took the hand he offered, twining her fingers in his. "Sure, I'd love to!"

Smiling, Arch squeezed her hand gently. "Great.." he mumbled, flashing Katie one of his boyish grins. Still holding hands, the couple walked in comfortable silence in the direction of the gardens outside. Arch held the door open for Katie as they exited the school.

Rolling her eyes, but grinning despite herself, Nicole decided to allow the couple the privacy that they deserved. Sighing to herself, she thought that it would be nice to find an empty couch in one of the sitting rooms to curl up on. Alone. So that she could plot her revenge and stew in her hate for a few hours so that it could hopefully boil down to a civil level.The sitting room she found first was filling up fast, but she found a nice, cushy futon that was off on its own. Settling down, she prepared to brood...

- - -

Katie smiled up at Arch a little self-consciously, but still basking the warm, fuzzy glow she got whenever she was near him. Finding an isolated bench surrounded by scarlet rose bushes, he sat down, stretching his wings awkwardly as she sat down next to her. He'd worked all dinner steeling himself up to do this, and now, watching her look up at him with those big, pretty eyes, he found himself nearly losing his nerve. Oh, but how could she like him?Taking a deep breath, he tried desperately to regain his composure. "Katie... I.. " he began, shifting awkwardly nearer to her on the bench. Arch blushed furiously as Katie looked up at him through her lashes.

"Hmm?" she prompted him, smiling warmly and making his heart flutter as nervously as his wings chose to.

Forcing his wings to behave he pushed himself to speak again, "I know.. that we haven't known each other for... a long time.. but... I really like you and..." he faltered again. She was so close, warm, and soft... and the urge to just kiss her already was becoming hard to suppress.

"And..." She repeated, feeling almost overwhelmingly warm and fuzzy at the idea of him really liking her. Enjoying the excuse to look at him, shivering lightly from pleasure, she hoped that the next thing he had to say wasn't 'but I don't want a relationship'.

Arch, completely stuck for something to say, reached up for her face with one trembling hand, and pulled her in closer. Leaning in he pressed his lips to hers gently, desperately hoping that she wouldn't pull away...

To Katie's delight, she was pulled into Arch's warm embrace. His lips encompassed her own, taking her breath away. Moaning in both surprise and pleasure, she slowly wrapped her arms around Arch's neck to let him know that she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon...

Utterly shocked by her total acceptance of his advances, Arch couldn't help but feel almost blown away. Pressing a bit harder on her mouth, he was rewarded by another small moan of pleasure from her. He felt so very lucky that he wouldn't be surprised if he woke up with his face in his pillow... and so wasn't so terribly surprised (though disappointed) when they were interrupted by a wolf whistle and some sarcastic applause.

Horrified, Katie and Arch turned to see Logan's characteristic smirk. Logan was leaning in the doorway, looking completely relaxed and nonchalant. As usual he had the air of a teenager who never grew up mentally. "Time for bed love birds.." he snickered, light blue eyes flashing with obvious amusement.

Katie's horror turned to narrowed eyes and a frown. She personally didn't have anything against Logan, but Nicole's feelings were catching. "That was mature." She muttered, not amused at having her lovely moment interrupted by someone such as Logan.

Scowling, Logan watched the two lovebirds brush past him, shooting him angry and offended looks. Vaguely he could have sworn that he heard Katie mutter, "That was mature..." . Growling grumpily, he swung himself around to follow them inside, not loosing his usual self satisfied saunter, but mentally growling. I'm not paid to be mature.


	10. Chapter 10: Lipstick And Bruises

Sauntering up the stairs Logan hoped to make it to his room and back without anyone noticing him & making him go on some stupid errand, like buying groceries or extra pads for the girls bathroom (he'd had to before, and had no desire to ever repeat the experience). He did not have much of a formal role at the school, something of a repairman, babysitter and occasional substitute teacher. If so, he'd probably make another run out to that club... find a pretty, scantily clad non-Nicole someone to take his mind off things for a while. Even though, his subconscious annoying reminded him, he didn't seem to mind all that much that it was Nicole that he had been touching.

Well, he didn't mind nearly as much as she did anyways... As these thoughts ran through his mind, his lip curled unpleasantly. You'd think that I had raped her! his mind growled grumpily, as he took the stairs two at a time, suddenly feeling as if it were a race to get to his room and out of this god damned school as soon as possible. He couldn't bear the thought of being stuck in his room for the remainder of the night. Alone, and bored. He really had nothing better to do with his time, other than taunting Nicole whenever it seemed necessary, and resisting the urge to give the whelp a good spanking. _You'd like that wouldn't you..._ the wry voice at the back of his head nagged. Dammit.

- - -

Nicole had tired of brooding, as she really hadn't thought of anything that she'd be able to get away with, without him killing her. Stomping to her room, she saw him in the hallway but moved to the extreme other side, not looking at him at all. Throwing open the door to her room moodily, she saw Katie sitting there, listening to music on a battery-less player and not looking much happier.

Katie looked up as the door banged shut. Nicole stood in the doorway, fuming. Rolling her eyes, Katie let Nicole's look of utter fury and exasperation pass. All Logan had to do was breath at the moment and Nicole was close to pawing his eyes out of their sockets. Granted, Katie wasn't exactly happy with Logan at the moment either, but she was willing to let it pass. She wasn't one for long term grudges. Nicole, on the other hand, loved them.

In fact, as Nicole went over to her drawer to rummage for pajamas, all Katie could hear from Nicole was the grumbled sentence. " God dammit! Giving me that look.. stupid asshole Logan...it's not like he needs that leg anyway... "

"Nicole," Katie said exasperatedly, rolling her eyes. "Please don't tell me you're going to attack him and gnaw it off or something." Sometimes she worried about Nicole... Nicole ignored her.

- - -

Nicole woke up around two in the morning, extremely thirsty. She'd been having a very disturbing dream about those damned hands, and was very happy to find herself awake and alone in bed. Getting up quietly, so as not to wake up Katie, she crept out into the hallway to go downstairs for a drink. Sighing sleepily, she rubbed her eyes in quite a naive way as she made her way down the hallway. Why did the kitchen have to be downstairs? Couldn't they have a water fountain for thirsty girls when they needed a drink, like a normal school? Then again, this wasn't exactly what one would call a normal school at all she thought as a sleepy grin crept across her face. She paused suddenly, listening intently. Someone was making their way up the stairs toward her. And they were giggling.

Sighing, and feeling quite impatient, Logan "Shush-ed" the girl for the umpteenth time since they had entered the school. The girl's name,(which happened to be 'candy') completely slipped his mind, but she didn't seem to mind if he called her quite a few pet names, fluttering her eyelashes at him and licking her lips quite often... Scantily clad as the girl was, she seemed damn intent on teasing him even further by insisting upon going up the stairs in front of him. Flashing him quite a bit of a lacey undergarment and pale thighs, extremely unlike Nicole's olive skin, he marveled, but he quickly doused this thought.

Nicole, still standing at the side of the stairs partially hidden in shadow, watched in a kind of amazed horror as what had to be a stripper came up the stairs, giggling and casting overly flirtatious looks back at an aroused-looking, yet slightly irritated, Logan. Nicole's eyes narrowed, taking in the girl's shirt-that-didn't-count-as-clothes stretched tight across artificially large boobs for such an annorexically skinny frame, the bleached-blonde hair, and the slutty makeup... _Grr. Just Logan's type, wasn't that slut. Cheap & easy_.

Nicole couldn't help eyeing the girl with disgust, and slight embarrassment for her. Hey, if the slut had such a lack of dignity that she'd settle for Logan as a client... Nicole felt for her. Though she couldn't help but feel the twinge of jealousy at the girl's slim middle. Nicole could hardly bear the sight of Logan.

His white shirt was severely rumpled and un buttoned, and he had bright red lipstick kiss marks and smudges near the collar. The same smudges resided all along his neck and a few on his cheeks. Though, Nicole felt a surprising amount of severe satisfaction, he had no red on his mouth but it was faintly pink and clearly swollen. His eyes were dark, and the smirk that curled his lips was seductive as he and the whore exchanged a dirty look. Nicole shivered. Despite the flames of hatred (and completely obvious but not yet discovered) jealousy that had roared to life in the pit of her stomach, she couldn't help but blush and watch with wide eyes and her mouth parted in alarm. It was too late for these sort of emotions...

Chewing on her lip nervously, Nicole held her breath. If she wasn't noticed, perhaps she could forget the whole thing and go down and get her god damned drink of water and call it a night. It was Logan's dirty hands that had shocked her into wakefulness (therefore it was his fault.), and it would not be Logan's angry shout at her to get the hell out of the hallway and to mind her own business, that would send her running with her tail between her legs back to her room. Or maybe, if she just walked past them with out saying a word... she could go and get her drink in peace and come back to a completely empty hallway and peace and quiet... Mentally frowning, Nicole watched as the aroused, ruffled Logan struggle to wrest his key to his room from his pocket, while trailing soft kisses down the girl's neck.

"Dammit!" was the husky grunt that she heard him mutter through nibbling on the slut's ear.

Nicole failed to suppress a shiver that had nothing to do with a nearby open window that was a little ways behind her, and absolutely nothing to do with the breeze that ruffled her hair. They were bound to notice her presence sooner or later... however, the cool breeze that whooshed past her made the decision that it would be sooner. The busy couple shuddered slightly, and to Nicole's shock and horror, Logan was the one to seek out the source of the cold wind.

His eyes, darkened with passion, fell on Nicole like a hundred pound weight. Her body trembled despite her efforts to look completely unabashed, and a hot flush was on her cheeks. _Don't look at me like that! Why... are you looking at me like that! Stop! _She mentally panicked.

Logan, still keeping a protective and tight hold on his hooker, mentally cursed his bad luck. He'd been enjoying himself for the first time since finding out that that pretty girl had been Nicole, and this had been supposed to get her off his mind! But no, she has to be the only one out on the stairs at this hour in the morning! "Nicole! Go to bed!" he snarled huskily, ignoring that tiny, snide voice in the back of his head that was wondering how Nicole would be in a threesome...

But before Logan could shove it aside , the snide voice firmly decided that she would probably be much better in a one on one type of thing. Preferably the act in question would involve a very nude Nicole covered a large amount of whipped cream. Blinking he shook his head to clear it of that thought, however appealing it seemed in his current state of mind and arousal...

Nicole it seemed was not about to take orders from him willingly. Her liquid brown eyes, which had been so wide and deliciously innocent a moment before, were narrowed now and her lips were set in a grim thin line. Pity, she had very nice lips, and they would taste very good... agh! No! Stop thinking those things!

"Why don't you go to bed, Logan." she spat viciously. Ah. Now he remembered why those pleasant thoughts of her that had popped up were so unwelcome. She was an insolent little girl( little? ha.) who refused to take orders from her superiors. However disheveled and aroused as they were. Giving Logan one last, haughty sniff (what a loser to bring his whore to a school!) Nicole flounced down the stairs, ignoring her own convoluted feelings. For a tiny second she'd wanted him to look all sexily rumpled like that because of what she was doing, but she'd squashed that thought right away! How could she, even a tiny part of her, be actually attracted to that asshole?

Candy ran her nails through Logan's hair, a bit miffed at his attention being on some other (much less attractive, in her mind) girl. "Who was that? she asked breathily, a feminine, feline smile on her face as he touched her.

The seductive smile returned to Logan's lips as his attention returned to his whore. "No one important. Just a student...she's just a nuisance... I had no idea that she'd be up this early in the morning" Logan brushed the memory of Nicole's innocent look of shock, and her small, trembling frame off of him like an annoying fly. However, deep in the back of his mind a small, quiet voice (that sounded quite like Nicole's... and yet so unlike her because it was speaking softly, instead of yelling ) ask: _I wonder if she would tremble like that in your arms... though not because of the cold, and not because of embarrassment... _With brief internal panic at this shocking question, Logan pushed it deep, deep into the back of his mind... though did not completely forget it as he escorted Candy into his dark room.

- - -

Nicole slammed her empty class on the counter with a bang. Damn him! As if it were a crime that I got thirsty in the middle of the night! It's not my fault that he chose to take home a slut tonight! she thought angrily, sloshing water all over her arm and a little bit down her nightdress, as she attempted to poor it into the glass.

She, looking at the water dripped off her sleeve, was seized by a sudden daydream of a fantasy. _This time, it was her hanging off of Logan's arm, kissing him, running her hands over his chest and working at his shirt buttons... It wasn't 'Candy' who's clothes were ripped off by too-eager hands, it wasn't Candy thrown on his bed, it wasn't Candy holding him and yelling his name in passion... _With a gasp, Nicole dropped her water glass with a small crash. Hating herself for liking that thought, she glared at the spreading puddle on the floor...

Damn him she thought furiously, as she trembled uncontrollably, tingles of guilty pleasure jumping from nerve to nerve like electricity. Stooping, she wiped up the spreading puddle with a dish towel that she found on a counter, repaired the glass in a blink of an eye, refilled it and took a hasty gulp of water before slamming the glass into the sink and leaving the kitchen as quick as her legs could carry her.

- - -

Kissing at the whore's neck, Logan finished yanking off her shirt. They were half-sprawled on his bed, and entirely absorbed into the action. As she undid his belt, Logan groaned softly. "Oh, Nicole,' he murmured, kissing her again.

Candy paused for a moment. She was used to being called the usual run of pet names 'baby', 'honey' 'darling', even 'angel'... but Nicole? "My name's not Nicole," she hissed at him, feeling a bit put out. She had to be better in bed than this "Nicole", or he'd be banging this other chick... right?

Oh no. He hadn't just... he couldn't have... "I said, my name's not Nicole!" she hissed again in his ear as she tugged his pants from him.

He groaned softly, "Of course it's not... Candy" he purred softly, pushing her back onto the bed. Ah. There it was... that was her name... the feline feminine smile returned. That's a relief, she thought. He had only been confused for a minute. Men's minds didn't exactly work all that great while having sex, as all of the blood needed to think was rushing into their nether parts...

Logan bit back a curse. Damn! He specifically picked Candy up for her, to take his mind off of Nicole! But the only voice, the only face, the only anything that came to his mind right now, with Candy... was Nicole.

After receiving the hardest slap he could ever recall receiving from Candy, and after a quite thorough shower... Logan fell spread eagled onto his bed, face first wishing he had the gall enough to put everyone around him out of their misery by suffocating himself with his own pillow. He had called her Nicole, again. And at the most inconvenient moment that there could ever be, as they had come to the climax. Unbidden, Nicole's face, her wide, liquid brown eyes fluttering closed and a blush high on her soft cheeks, had flashed behind his own closed eyelids, causing him to tip over the edge, a soft gruff grunt escaping his lips. " Ah.." he exhaled into his pillows. Why? The most hated object in his life at the present, had so suddenly become the most wanted. Sighing, he closed his eyes willing the sleep that hovered just below the surface to come and block out the harsh realities of the world.

Thankfully, it did. Logan slumped into his pillows, as sleep washed over him. Nicole's face, smiled up at him, her eyes staring adoringly up at him through thick lashes. Her normally flat tummy, bulging with child.

Though his mind protested, the smiling Nicole lead one of Logan's hands to rest on her swollen belly. "This is yours Logan..." she whispered softly in his ear. Her belly pressed into his torso as she stretched on tiptoe to kiss cheek tenderly. She giggled, "You're going to be a daddy!"

"NO!"

"Yes!" Nicole seemed extremely happy to be an expectant mother, her cheeks had a healthy flush, and her eyes were shining. "What are we going to name it?"

"What?" he repeated incredulously, still entirely stunned. Why him? What was he going to have to do? Marry her? But... he wasn't even supposed to have slept with her in the first place...

Suddenly Nicole's happy, shinning face pouted, thrusting out her full bottom lip. "Logan.." she looked up at him with wide, baby eyes. "Aren't you happy?" she whispered, a small smile returned to her lips, she was leaning her head on his shoulder and one of her small hands raised to trace small hearts over his own, which was beating rapidly fast with rising panic.

Logan was surprised to find that he was happy that she was no longer pouting. He didn't want to disappoint the mother of his child... wait... wait just a minute. She wasn't SUPPOSED to be the mother of his child.. He wasn't supposed to be having any children at all! "Logan?" came the soft needy voice again, "don't you want to help decide the name of our baby?"

Logan tried to (very, very) gently push her away so he could talk to her eye to eye about what exactly they were going to do about this.. And found himself falling onto a very hard, very cold floor, having just shoved himself out of bed. Sitting up, panting and covered in a sweat, he tried to make sense of the dream he'd just had. What did it mean? Did he want Nicole to have his children?

Of course he didn't, he reasoned. He was just very horny when he had last had his encounter with Nicole, and being male, it was very hard to forget the soft, innocent, yet very wet-dream worthy face that Nicole had made. She was female, it was natural that he physically reacted to her that way... and the thoughts about her were just the results of that one look he had seen her give him. Well, not him exactly... more like she gave both him and Candy.

Breathing a deep sigh of relief, Logan leaned his back against his bed. Of course it was just physical. She hated him, and he hated her. Obviously those feelings could not turn to anything even vaguely related to the loving way Nicole had gazed at him in his dream. If anything, the feelings he thought that he had experienced were lustful... fueled by his anger and frustration with Nicole's insolent behavior towards him. Why wouldn't she just give in? Growling to himself, Logan lay back down in bed again, glaring at the blinking clock numbers. It was much to early, and he had not gotten nearly enough sleep to start thinking about his "feelings". It was never the right time to think about "feelings".


	11. Chapter 11: In My Dreams

Katie, as usual, was completely oblivious to the angst of the outside world. Sleeping peacefully, she fell into a dream that started out rather nice and normal... She was walking down the garden path again, holding on to Arch's strong hand. It was nearly the exact scene from earlier, as they sat on the bench to talk, except for a slight dream blurring around the edges...

Smiling contently, Katie gazed up into Arch's face. Arch smiled nervously and turned to face her on the bench. "Katie..." his smile was nervous, but his blue eyes shone with a soft, tender light. His words seemed to come a bit easier than the way they had before, but it didn't bother Katie as he continued. "I know that we haven't known each other for very long... but..." he paused, but more for effect than anything else. "I really like you." he sighed, and again Katie felt the rising anticipation as his face neared her own, his breath warming her lips as he approached.

As Katie's heart pounded rapidly in her chest, he cautiously tested the waters by pressing their lips together softly. His hands came up to cradle her face, and Katie couldn't help but let slip a soft moan of pleasure. She reached up to clasp her hands behind his neck, twining fingers into his hair. Oh, this was fun! Eyes closed, and moaning slightly again in pleasure, Katie fell into the spell of the moment.

So she was not surprised when he began to press in harder on her, deepening the kiss. Moaning again, she opened her mouth, wanting him to take it another step further. A shiver rippled down her spine as her lips were bathed in his warm breath before his tongue slid teasingly light, over her lower lip. Warm hands, pressed their palms flat against her back. The heat of those hands permeated the thin material of her shirt, warming her back as they roamed up... then down... and up again... Mmm... this was good... maybe Arch would have done this if we weren't interrupted...?

The silence was broken by the muffled sound of his light, husky moan into her eager lips. "Katie..." the voice that she heard when they momentarily parted for air was deep, and soft as silk... He groaned, pulling her to him again, his tongue exploring quite boldly now... tasting and teasing. She moaned softly as teeth gently tested both of her lips.

"Ah!" she gasped, she grasped the soft hair at the back of his head, needing to hold on to something real as the deliciously unreal shockwaves of heat and pleasure, all fueled by his lips, washed over her. She was rendered literally helpless against his constant kisses, nibbles, and nips. And his voice... it was so unlike Arch... More like... "Scott..." the name slipped from her mouth before she could even think about it.

Fluttering her eyes open against the tide of pleasure, she gazed across the stronger, manlier features of Scott as opposed to Arch, Katie just sighed in pleasure again, wanting what he did to make her feel so wonderful to continue. Oh, he was definitely the better kisser. Arch's kiss had warmed her heart, but this was spreading that warmth throughout her body, arousing her in the most pleasant way possible. "mMm"...

Gentle and yet demanding, Scott reduced her to a trembling mass of nerves. She felt his lips curl into a grin just before they left hers quite suddenly. "Oh!" she whimpered in protest, "Please, don't stop" advancing again, wanting, and needing those lips again.

He laughed softly, his warm hands pulled her close to him again, though she felt his warm breath bathing the spot just below her ear instead of on her lips "I'm not going anywhere, Sweetheart..." he purred. Teasingly, he brushed the delicate skin of her neck with his lips, nipping and blowing gently raising goose bumps.

Moaning again, still completely blown away by the sheer amount of pleasure he was able to give to her, she held on to his shoulders, trying to stay somewhat upright. Biting back another moan into a back-of-the-throat purr as he trailed his mouth lower, she ran her fingernails across his shoulders. Unable to take it she moaned again, softer, as her fingers found the buttons on his shirt. Undoing them with shaking fingers she ran fingers up and down each inch of skin she bared slowly, wanting him more right then than she had ever wanted another human being.

His seemed to emanate an impossible heat, every inch of velvety soft skin seemed to throb beneath Katie's eager fingertips. With a soft gasp of delight, Katie was oddly pleased to feel thick, soft curls beneath her fingertips as her hands slid lower down his abdomen. Firm muscles beneath the hot skin tensed beneath her hands. The loud sound of a pounding heartbeat resounded in Katie's ears. Was it his ? or hers? A growl sounded deep in his throat, "Mmm, baby..."

She felt his hands at the hems of her own shirt, moan rising as he stripped her of what little lay between them... "I want you so bad," she moaned into his ear, kissing his neck in passion. What came next blew her mind even more, dragging her through fires of pleasure she did not know could even exist. Taking a deep breath to moan/yell his name one last, climaxing time...

...She coughed, and coughed again, tangled in a mess of sheeting and pillow. Sitting up somewhat deliriously, she realized she was clutching on to her pillow instead of Scott, and it was something of a disappointment...

Until she realized exactly whom she'd been having such a dream about! Groaning with guilt, she hid her burning face from the morning light that filtered through the blinds. She was still trembling, and she could have sworn that the feeling of his hot, heart throb body had been so real... so close... She wallowed in both guilt and pleasure as she allowed the memories of the dream and his touches to chill her to the bone... and yet set fires to her flesh.

There came the soft noise of a throat being cleared, and Katie jumped to see Nicole looking wide awake and as if she had been awake for hours, hugging her knees close and resting her chin upon them. Nicole smiled, "Good dream?" she questioned, waggling her eyebrows suggestively.

Blushing, Katie nodded. Very good...

"So, what was it about?" Nicole questioned, though the main point was obvious... Katie had had a sex dream, and Nicole wanted to know about whom.

"Nothing." Katie replied, unwilling to let such a... such a wonderful and yet horrible dream out to someone else. It was impossible to believe that she actually wanted a teacher, but that's what her dream had been. Wanting. And it scared her.

Stifling a huge yawn, Nicole stretched out her legs. "M'pretty sure that if your dream made you thrash around in your bed vigorously, it had to be about something good... very good. Like..." she trailed off, pretending to think of something that was pleasant, "Sex, for instance..." she mumbled offhandedly. When Katie continued to stubbornly refuse to tell her about her dream, Nicole shrugged. "Least you could sleep. I've been up and down all night. Been waiting for you to wake up for ages." Nicole grumbled, looking suddenly grumpy, picking moodily at a fray in her sheets.

Katie blinked at Nicole, still trying to fight the images/feelings of arms from her mind. It would do her no good to try and not tell Nicole something if her friend just went into her head and saw it. "Well, its too early to be any fun-" She started, before realizing that it was actually almost time for them to get up anyway. "Whatever. I think I'm going to go take a shower... shave or something for that stupid swimming thing today." Katie, rather understandably, had issues with water.

Nicole shared Katie's lack of enthusiasm. " Great... I still don't see why I can't wear my t-shirt in the pool... it won't hurt anyone... I hate those little things that they call bathing suits!" she grumbled as Katie rummaged through her drawers, and bustled around the room gathering her things. Every now and then students made formal use of the pool the school contained, in vaguely organised "lessons".

Katie snorted into her sock drawer, "Really Nicole, the bikini's aren't that small..." she chuckled, "Besides, it's not the bathing suits that I hate... its the fact that we have to swim in front of teachers and I can't really touch anyone in the pool unless I want to zap them to a crisp..."

Nicole, remembering about the teacher-thing, shuddered violently. "Oh god, if I run into Logan while I'm wearing a bathing suit, and if he says ANYTHING, I'm going to kill him!" She declared, despite the fact that she was planning to kill Logan anyway.

Katie stifled a comment. She, on the other hand, was not looking forward to facing Scott today... clothed or not. Smirking slightly and laughing softly, Katie turned to face Nicole. "Nicole, if you hate Logan so much... then why is it that you are ALWAYS talking about him ALL of the time? I'm starting to think that you like the attention..." she laughed, wiggling her eyebrows teasingly. It was fun to tease Colie in the morning...

To Katie's satisfaction, Nicole turned beet red, seemed to swell with indignation " Why would I like attention from that Self-Assured-No good-Nasty-and Down right not nice person! Grrrr he just makes me so ANGRY! Everything he does is so irritating... it's as if he were born to ruffle my feathers..." Nicole ranted, and continued to rant even as Katie was leaving. Giggling like mad, Katie heard Nicole shout the last bit of her tirade just to make sure that she heard it, "And having him make one little comment about me not looking good in a bathing suit would just be the last straw! He's just, such and ASSHOLE! ARRRR! I just can't-aarg... I hate him...!"

Katie, laughing to herself at Nicole's borderline-stupidity brand of denial, had nearly managed to forget about her dream. Nearly being the key word as she, being completely oblivious (as usual) about where she was going, walked right into Scott, a face-first collision with that was (undeniably) a wonderfully warm chest, but definitely wasn't (or so she thought) what she wanted to be so close to this early in the morning, after such a sketchy dream. "Ah! Scott! I'm so sorry!" Katie squealed, backing away as quickly as she could from the warm chest, a flush burning in her cheeks.

A thoroughly groggy looking Scott (apparently he wasn't a morning person), stifled a yawn, smiling. His normally well-behaved hair was in a state of complete disarray and his chin was dark with morning stubble. The black shirt that he wore was thin, and had a fair share of holes around the shoulder seams and was fraying slightly at the bottom, and the (thoroughly comfortable looking) pants that he wore were loose and they had slipped quite a bit, enough to allow his plaid print boxers to peek through. "No problem," he yawned, and the smile that curled his lips was big and warm, like his chest. "No big deal, I think we're both a bit too preoccupied to actually be paying attention to where we're going this early in the morning."

"Yeah..." She replied excitingly, nodding at him and completely unable to say anything more. With another kind smile he walked past her to get back to his room. Katie just stood there, somewhat stunned, before collapsing against the wall with a small gasp. _Oh god. Teachers should not be allowed to be so damn cute... _

And students should not be allowed to have hot sex dreams about their cute teachers...nagged the voice in the back of her head. Sighing, she pushed herself away from the wall. If she didn't get to the bathroom soon, the shower would already be taken. Her knees still wobbled slightly while she continued to move down the hall, unwanted memories (though somewhat disjointed...) of the dream, mostly the hot and heavy parts, played like a movie in her head. Finally, after about 10 extra minutes of dawdling while she remembered the feeling of his embrace... and those warm hands sliding up and down over her back... up and down..., she came to a halt in front of the closed bathroom door.


	12. Chapter 12: Going At It

Damn, who could have gotten here before me? Most of the kids in this school love to wait till the last minute to get ready...The sound of running water suddenly being shut off sounded through the door. Someone must have been taking a shower. Good, they were done. That meant that Katie wouldn't have to wait long. Timidly, Katie knocked on the door. "Are you almost done in there?" she called softly.

A growling sigh of frustration sounded from the other side of the door. "Yeah, hold on." Logan's voice growled from the other side of the door. Shocked, Katie froze. Another teacher. Damn, how many did she have to run into this morning before she could finally take her shower!

Tapping her foot as she waited, Katie hoped Logan wasn't going to take a really long time to get dressed, or decided to shave or something. But he did eventually open the door, and had she gone in for men like Logan, Katie probably would have swooned again.

He looked rumpled in a sexy sort of way, in an old, and almost see-through white wife beater and comfy jeans that were still tight in all the right places. "Good morning," he growled as though he thought it was really a rather shitty one.

Unbidden, a sudden stroke of genius smacked Katie in the face. _I bet Nicole would like to see Logan like this _she snickered mentally. She reduced the insane grin that she longed to don to a small strained smile, Katie looked Logan up and down quickly, memorizing every detail. Nicole will have a hard time probing my mind for details on my dream with this though fresh in my mind...

Meanwhile, Logan stood grumpily in front of Katie, passively (GAASP Passive, and Logan are never supposed to meet in the same sentence! That's a no no) allowing her to look him over as most female students did if they happened to encounter him after his daily shower. "Are you going to move anytime soon, or should I go back in there," he jerked his thumb at the bathroom that lay behind him, "and shave like I was planning on doing before you so kindly interrupted me." he growled.

"No, I need the shower." she replied, smiling at him much too cheerfully and innocently for that hour of the morning. "You can go yell at someone or something until I'm done." Breezing past him she shut the door in his face, locking it just to be safe. She'd heard enough from Nicole about this particular individual's disregard for unlocked doors...

After enjoying a nice hot shower that did nothing to wake her up, Katie got out and went about taking as long as she liked while getting dressed, brushing her hair, and applying water proof eyeliner and mascara. When she finally turned her attention to the door, she noticed that someone was banging on it rather loudly.

"Are you DONE now! Gods you're slow!" Logan snarled when she finally unlocked and opened the door.

Katie smiled mock sweetly. That's for interrupting me and Arch when we were having a good time. "Yup. Done." Ignoring his glare, the sort that he usually reserved for Nicole, Katie flounced past him again as though he simply didn't matter. Oh, it was so much fun to get revenge... and successful revenge against Logan was a very difficult thing indeed.

Breezing into the room, Katie smiled at Nicole in the same overly nice way, almost wanting Nicole to try and pick at Katie's mind so that she'd get the pictures of Logan instead... "Hello Nicole," she commented, putting her things away and trying to decided what bathing suit to wear for later.

The girls were allowed to wear their own bathing suits, though there were some restrictions. One, it had to be a bikini( the reason behind this had not been discovered, but assumed to be the result of having a majority of male teachers over female teachers, who would no doubt normally demand that the girls wear decent one piece bathing suits.). And two, if it was a halter top it had to be triple knotted very tightly, so there was no threat of de-bikini-ing or of accidental slips and flashes. The strength of your bikini top's ties were tested before each swim session.

Raising a suspicious brow, Nicole muttered a greeting while getting up to choose her own bathing suit for the pool. "What's got you so excited, eh Katie? Run into Arch on your way or something?"

_Well, I certainly bumped into someone... _Katie pulled her bathing suit out from underneath her socks, shaking off the fuzz it had accumulated. It was black, rather obviously, and was decked out with strategically placed silver shiny bits that drew the attention to what cleavage the halter-cut top displayed. "No one in particular. My shower just put me in a better mood," she commented, shaking out the frilly black bottom. _C'mon Nicole... take the bait, pop into my head_...

"Mmm.." Nicole replied, feeling suspicion bubble in the pit of her stomach. She wouldn't tell her about her dream, and she wouldn't tell her who she ran into on the way to her shower. It was quite obvious that Katie was up to something. And god dammit, she wanted to know what it was! Casually, Nicole rummaged through her top drawer and pulled out her own bathing suit. It was nothing much. A nice, royal blue with shiny gold stars of varying sizes artfully strewn in a diagonal swoop on both the top and the bottom. It even had cute little gold stars dangling from the ties on either side of the bottom. While she did so, she gently prodded the very edges of Katie's mind. _Okay Katie... what are you hiding_...she thought to herself, grinning with apprehension..._ it had to be good if Katie was keeping it from her_...

Katie, feeling Nicole at the edges of her mind, thought as hard as she could about Logan has he had looked that morning, trying to make every detail as clear as possible. Clapping a hand over mouth, she tried to restrain giggles, waiting for it...

"AGH!" Nicole yelled, stepping backward and tumbling over onto her bed. Just as she had begun to see the formation of Katie's dream a big, vivid memory of Logan burst before her eyes. His dark hair was damp and ruffled, and he wore a white wife beater that clung to his damp skin and some comfy, jeans that clung in all of the right places. Every detail shone vibrantly, down to the small shining droplets of moisture that still clung to his arms and neck. "Good morning." he growled eyeing her with slight distaste.

Katie burst out laughing, sitting down on her bed. The look on Nicole's face... it was a terribly confused look, something halfway between repulsion and unwilling attraction... "So, Nicole, still curious about my dream?" Katie asked, still giggling to herself.

Nicole shot Katie a withering look. " No." she growled, hoisting herself up off of her bed.

Still giggling, Katie rolled her eyes, "Oh c'mon Nicole... it was just a joke...I ran into Logan this morning and..."

Nicole made an indignant noise, " Well that much was obvious..." she growled.

Katie shot Nicole an exasperated look. I mean really, the girl was very touchy most of the time... "And well, I didn't want you to butt into my head and go poking around where you shouldn't... so I used the memory as a defense! C'mon Colie... you would have done the same thing..." she begged. Nicole continued to glare at her after she had gone and put her bikini on in the closet.

"No. I wouldn't have. Because I tell you everything. I even told you about Logan walking in on me! And you wont even tell me about a stupid dream..."

Katie paused a moment, Nicole's guilt trip starting to wear on her. She was something of a squishy person, and so did not like the hurt look Nicole was giving her... But then, she still didn't want to tell Nicole about the dream. Biting her lip, she tried not to look at Nicole's face. "C'mon Nicole..." Oh, this was what happened when they argued. Nicole usually won.

This time, Katie refused to lose. Hardening her resolve she decided, Nicole didn't tell her everything like that time Nicole had liked the same boy in their school as Katie... she let Katie go out with him, and when he really started to like her, she acted all jealous and bitchy! She should have at least told her so Katie knew how Nicole felt. But no. With Nicole, she liked to avoid giving in to her emotions until the last moment. Katie wouldn't let Nicole win this argument. There were some privacies to which she was entitled, and this was one of them. "Maybe I'll tell you some other time." she muttered, avoiding the subject. At least this would keep Nicole off her for a little while.

Nicole ignored her all down to breakfast, apparently deciding not to simply forget about the matter. So Katie attempted to make awkward small talk with Arch, feeling dreadfully guilty about the whole dream-thing. It was one thing to have a dream where she made out with/banged another man. it was another to enjoy it so much more than the part about Arch. But then, it didn't look like much of a happy breakfast for most anyone else, with Nicole and Logan wearing typical morning scowls.

While she gave Katie the cold shoulder, Nicole stole furtive glances over her O.J. glass in Logan's direction. _I wonder if his little slut made it out of the school before everyone started waking up... _she thought bitterly, making a face when she observed that her orange juice seemed a little too sunny today. _I'm more than sure that he's not allowed to do that sort of thing... this is a school after all..._. She noticed with satisfaction that there were nail marks on his face. She 'harrumphed' grumpily. Serves him right, I hope he comes down with an STD.

Logan, meanwhile, was sneaking (less careful) furtive glances in her direction as well. He wasn't exactly sure why, and he had the weirdest feeling that it might be nice to see her in her bathing suit later, but he really wasn't in the mood to analyze this thought. He'd gotten very little sleep the night before, partly from the stupid girl showing up in that very disturbing dream...

Sighing, Nicole looked down at her muffin and scrambled eggs sullenly. She didn't feel at all hungry for some reason. Her stomach was still doing agitated somersaults from that stupid memory Katie had thrown her. It had made her so angry, but... she'd felt something else. That same feeling that she had felt last night when she had had that small hallucination about Logan and her in the place of his whore. Annoyed at the small twinge of a weird tingling that had spread from her head to the tips of her fingers and toes. And yet it was a pleasant tingling, warm and made her feel nice as if she were wrapped up in her blankets in bed and snuggling down into her pillows for a good night's sleep. But how could Logan make her feel that way? He was nasty, sarcastic, and arrogant... and perverted. She looked up again to observe the bane of her existence, and jumped in surprise when her eyes met his. She mimicked his frown. _Go away Logan._

Logan did not go away, refusing to lose this almost staring-contest to her. Anyone else, maybe, but not her. For some reason she just got under his skin, and made it so very important for her to realize that he was the dominant one... the "alpha male", in a way.

Logan saw the brief realization flicker in her brown eyes. He watched her square her shoulders, flashing him a I'm-not-going-to-lose-to-you look. They stared at each other for quite some time, neither willing to blink and relieve their dry eyes. In fact, they stared so long, and so hard at one another that they were beginning to attract attention.

"Nicole!" Katie hissed. Staring contests, that's mature... "Stop! You're going to hurt yourself!"

"No! I wont lose! I wont give in to him. I won't let him win..." Nicole growled, a tear spilling over her cheek as her eyes attempted to keep themselves wet.

Katie sighed, then sent a vastly irritated Look Logan's way. _He really shouldn't be encouraging her_... She thought, tapping her foot impatiently. _I would have thought someone in charge of the health & welfare of children would be a little more responsible, but apparently not! _

She wasn't the only person not amused, Scott was sending Logan a disapproving, _'are you three?' _sort of look as well.

"Dammit!" Nicole growled in misery when she blinked. Keeping her eyes tightly shut, the tears continued to stream from her eyes. Her eyes smarted something horrible now. Any longer and her contacts would have popped clear out of her eyes because of the dryness. She put her head down, resting her eyes and hiding the tears from everyone around her. They weren't emotional tears, she convinced herself, and they were just her eyes trying to make up for the lack of blinking...

Before she could compose herself enough to continue eating her breakfast and hating Logan even more, she jumped as the words, "I win." were growled in her ear, warm breath stirring the sparse hairs at the back of her neck.

"EEK!" Nicole, eyes wide and not thinking, whirled around and gave him a really good smack across the face, one that rivaled Candy's in sheer force. "Leave me alone!" She squeak/yelled, enjoying the sound of the slap as it rang in the almost-silent dining hall.

The slap seemed to ring in the air for several long moments, and the satisfaction that had over come Nicole quickly dissolved into pure panic. The look that had set itself on Logan's face would have been enough to scare anyone. His bright blue eyes burned with fury and his jaw was set. _Oh shit. _Nicole, not liking the feral look in Logan's eyes, realized she may have gone to far... As slowly as she could she slid out of her chair, before bolting across the room. She didn't make it far before she tripped and fell over someone's bag, sprawling across the floor.

Logan, still glaring almost murderously at the fallen girl, took half a menacing step forward before someone grabbed him rather roughly by the shoulders. "Logan," Scott's voice was deadly calm in his ear, "Calm down. It was a natural reaction. It's your own fault. You just had to go and gloat didn't you? Had to declare your dominion over her didn't you?" Scott's nagging did nothing to quell Logan's fury.

How dare she smack him! Right where Candy had, too! It was Nicole's fault that he got smacked... she had to be on the stairwell when he brought Candy last night. She had to be the one who bore his child in his dream, to his horror. And now she had to go and smack him for no good reason! He'd make her pay. He'd make her see that he had more power over her than she did over him. He was the alpha male, she was the bitch. A damned stubborn bitch at that. Why couldn't she just stop flouncing around and questioning his authority and just give in! Once again Nicole had succeeded in burrowing ever deeper into Logan's normally tough hide. In the back of his mind the snide voice was at it again. _What do you want to do, smack her back? Beat her into submission? That won't do anything but hurt her. And you know you don't want to hurt her... but what do you want to do Logan? Do you even know? Perhaps the reason that Nicole gets to you is because she resists, because she wont submit to your every whim like most people do. You don't intimidate her; and you want to know why_.

Katie wanted to think the situation under control, but she couldn't quite trust Scott to keep a hold of a massively furious Logan. Getting up as slowly and carefully as she could, trying not to 'spook' anyone (she was starting to think like they were all animals) she went over to the downed Nicole. "I think it would be best if we exit stage left," she murmured, wanting to diffuse the situation as non-violently as possible.

Nicole nodded silently, still shaken by the entirely inhuman and feral blaze that had been in Logan's eyes. It was so different from the warm, smoldering passion that had darkened his eyes the night before. She shivered. That man was an enigma. He had so many different sides... and she couldn't help but wonder, did he have any pleasant sides at all? "I- I left my b-bag..." Nicole mumbled, shooting Katie a slightly terrified look.

"I'll get it." Katie said at once, worrying that Logan might try and bite Nicole if she got close enough. Like a dog.

"No. I'll get it." Nicole said softly a fierce light shining in her eyes. Even though Logan had frightened her, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of watching Katie fetch her bag for her just because Nicole was afraid Logan might look at her with that same look of feral fury and rage... She picked herself up off of the floor and approached cautiously, focusing her eyes on a point just beyond Logan's shoulder. She lifted her chin, and stilled the trembling of her hands by balling them into fists. She wasn't afraid of him, and she would let him know that. She walked right by Logan, not attempting to go around, so that her hair brushed chest lightly as she passed. From there she quickly scooped up her bag and walked deliberately slowly back to Katie. Satisfaction welled up inside of her. Take that Logan.

Katie bit her lip lightly, half proud of Nicole's bravery, and half wanting to grab her and shake her for being so stupid. All she was doing was making this worse! Personally, Katie would be amazed if Nicole made it through the entire day alive and/or not full of holes.


	13. Chapter 13: Getting Along Swimmingly

As the two girls slowly made their way down to the swimming pool, because they knew that they'd be early, Katie decided to speak up. "Nicole..." Katie asked cautiously, she didn't want to startle her. The whole time they had been walking, Nicole had been quietly withdrawn. Usually, the normal Nicole would be complaining about Logan and his lack of anger management skills or something or other.

"Mmm?" Nicole hummed, turning her attention to her friend, who was biting her lip and looking worried.

"Why do you do that with Logan? It seems that ever since we got here it's been a constant battle between you and Logan for... well, I don't know what..." Katie mumbled. What made them go at it like that? It didn't make sense logically. If they hated each other, why couldn't they just give each other their own space and just move on?

Nicole thought about it for some very long moments, obviously not exactly sure herself. "I... I don't really know..." She started cautiously, trying to ignore her incredibly mixed feelings about Logan. "Its... its a sort of dominance thing... I think... he wants me to give in, or something... acknowledge that he's... Oh, I don't know." She still wasn't exactly sure what they were actually fighting over.

Katie smiled somewhat ironically. It was slightly comical to see Nicole, who was normally a very strong, decisive person who always knew what it was that she wanted and how to get it, was struggling to explain something that even she failed to acknowledge.

Nicole frowned. "He's just... horribly dominant... and I guess he's just used to... I don't know... people... listening to what he says... but... he's so... unresponsive. I guess at first, it was just a...'haha let's see what will finally get Logan to express some sort of emotion' type of thing..." Nicole sighed, looking as if this sort of soul searching hurt quite a bit. "It's hard to figure out... I.." she faltered again, and gave Katie a very confused and desperate look. It was sort of cute actually. And nice for a change that Katie wasn't the one who was terribly confused and seeking guidance.

Katie smiled encouragingly, she knew that the searching for the source of the confusion could be difficult, but she knew from experience that it always helped in the long run. They walked into what was an entirely deserted locker room. Katie watched Nicole struggle with herself, and come up empty handed. "Nicole? Have you ever considered... that you might like Logan?"

Nicole froze, and when she turned around, she was wearing her best Death Glare. "How... how could you even suggest something as... as horrible... and... and unlikely..." The glare and her sentences melted, and Nicole drooped. Shock and realization washed over Nicole and rendered her breathless. Katie watched Nicole shakily plunk down onto a bench, staring at the insides of her hands. Nicole took a deep breath, "No..." she denied it, though it lacked the determination that it usually did. "I don't want... to.. to...I mean, It's so...unlikely... I always imagined that I would... would.. come to... you know, have feelings for... someone.. who was sweet... and kind... and a gentleman... like Bobby." her sentences were shaky and sounded more like whimpers than statements.

Katie smiled patting her friend on the back gently. "Well you know Nicole... girl's do tend to fall for the bad boy who treats them like crap rather than the sweet boy who treats them like a princess. Curiosity I think."

"Curiosity..." Nicole repeated, thinking. Oh, she was curious all right... curious as to what it felt like to be the one in Logan's arms... what it would be like to have him like her, what it would be like to kiss him... Moaning, Nicole tried to bury her face further in her hands. Katie continued to pat her, a little afraid for Nicole's emotional health. " Oh, Katie..." Nicole whimpered through her hands, sounding like she would very much like to break down and cry. "What am I going to do now?" How could she ever argue with Logan like normal with this at the back of her mind? She very much hoped that she wouldn't get all swoony like girls are rumored to do when they were around someone they liked... that would be embarrassing. She was more than certain that Logan would avoid her completely if she did start acting like that. No. She would act as if nothing was wrong. She had been able to act like she normally did- like he annoyed the shit out of her and that she hated his guts- and not turn into a puddle of mushy goo. Besides, Logan wasn't exactly the type of guy that had girls swooning over him. He was more the type of guy that had girls wanting him because of his body, not because of his personality. If he looked the way he acted... she was more than certain that no girl would go within a mile's radius of him.

"Oh, Nicole..." Katie continued patting, hoping that no one else would walk in until Nicole felt better, or the news would be halfway around the school before they got in the water.

Nicole sighed. But he obviously hated her... oh, even if he didn't know, why did she have to stand having the one she liked make fun of and generally torment her? Why did her life suck so much? And what was she going to do with Bobby now? Tell him to leave her alone because she decided she'd rather moon after a man who hated her... and was a teacher anyway, so even if he did like her... she couldn't do anything about it... "My life sucks."

Katie laughed. "Nicole, I'm sure your life doesn't suck any more than the rest of our lives.." she murmured in an amused tone, though she kept patting Nicole's back in a comforting manner.

Nicole groaned. "Yes it doessss..." she moaned, though she giggled slightly afterward. Sighing, Nicole pulled herself together. She had managed hiding her true feelings even from herself up until now. How hard could it be to hide them from Logan? I mean, the man was more than a few sandwiches short of a picnic to say the least.

They had finished putting their stuff in lockers (first choice meant getting a big one!) and changing, by the time the rest of the girls showed up from breakfast. Many gave Nicole odd looks, remembering the incident, but no one was stupid enough to say anything.

Scowling, Nicole leaned in to speak softly to Katie who fiddled with her bikini straps idly. "I don't see what's the big deal about me slapping him..." she muttered darkly, throwing a sharp glare at a small group of girls who stood huddled together, whispering while throwing small glances in Nicole and Katie's direction. "I mean," Nicole began slyly, pulling a face, "Judging by Logan's recent... behavior... it leads me to believe that Logan can't go a week with out being slapped around for some stupid reason or another..." Nicole wrinkled her nose while tightening one of the ties on her bikini bottom, sulkily eyeing the girls with rising dislike and annoyance. Katie cocked an eyebrow curiously.

"Recent behavior? What has he done to you other than win a staring contest?" Blinking in surprise, Nicole remembered that she had not yet recounted the night's events to Katie. She gave Katie a muttered rendition of the events of the night before, though she brushed over her own, brief fantasy.

When she finished, Katie snorted. "Well, that does sound like Logan, doesn't it? Bringing a whore into a school where there are small children." She paused a moment, thinking. "Though, with the way some of the other girls look at him, you'd think he'd rather not pay for it..."

An odd look spread over Nicole's face, hard, and fierce. "They look at him?" she questioned sharply, turning to glare at the dozens of girls that were scurrying about, searching for bathing suits or borrowing razors for a quick shave before class started, as if expecting them all to have ogled Logan shamelessly. No doubt he liked the attention despite the fact that they were students.

A faint smile that displayed her amusement at Nicole's budding emotions and suspicions curled Katie's mouth. "Of course they look at him. He's tall, dark, he's got nice muscles, and he's remotely attractive when he doesn't open his mouth and say anything. And he's older. That's usually always the motive behind a girl's lustful nature toward Logan. Personally, I don't find a man who acts like an animal and brings hookers to school is worth anyone's time. But that's my opinion." she said skeptically, giving Nicole a _Wasn't it obvious?_ look.

Nicole ignored Katie's disparaging opinion, still looking suspiciously at the other girls. That wasn't fair, was it? Everything else about this sucked, and now she had competition too? Damn! "You've really put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?" she commented, looking at Katie, who rolled her eyes.

"Its obvious." Katie grinned, "Really, Nicole. It's not my fault that your struggles with your love/ hate situation have blinded you to the fact that despite his personality, Logan is extremely appealing to the typical horny, hormonal teenaged girl." said in mock exasperation, laughing when Nicole pulled a pained face.

"You sound like the author of a novel that would have a stupid title like, _You Thought You Hated Him but Now You Love Him, Confusing Emotions for Dummies _by Katie Abell." Nicole grumbled, pulling her hair up into a cute, tufty little ponytail, frowning when her renegade locks of her rebellious short hair fell from its restraints and tickled her neck.

Katie laughed. "Well, its not my fault I know more about you than you do." she replied, poking Nicole gently. Katie's hair was down and curling at the ends all over the place because it wanted to, and partly because it was rather humid in the locker room. "C'mon Nicole... can we go now?"

Nicole sighed sulkily. " I guess so... maybe the cool water will clear my head a bit." she mumbled, following the dwindling number of girls out of the locker room and into the indoor pool area to stand in line at the edge of the Olympic sized swimming pool. The boys stood parallel to them in a similar horizontal line on the opposite side of the pool, all donned in simple swimming trunks. Apparently, Scott was stuck on "life guard" duty today, for it was he who strode behind the line of girls slowly, tugging lightly at the ties of their bikini tops, making sure that they were securely tied.

"Nicole," Katie muttered out of the corner of her mouth, a smirk on her lips, "If cool water could clear your head, I would have dunked you in a pool of ice water years ago."

Nicole made a face at Katie. "Thanks." she muttered. "I'm glad to know someone loves me..." Katie giggled a bit, and then there was something of a to-do as one of the sluttier girl's bathing suit tops really did fall off. She gasped and tried to cover herself up as though it wasn't intentional, as all the boys pointed and muttered to each other, with a few catcalls and whistles.

"Can't there be someone in this school that has an ounce of dignity?" Nicole grumbled, though she smirked slightly as she watched Scott look thoroughly embarrassed while he apologized to the slut(which wasn't at all needed.) and told her to tie her top tighter next time.

As Scott continued to apologize and the girl continued to 'forget' to put her top back on, there came a burst of loud, hoarse, bark-like laughter. "Really Scott, you'd think that your tugging at their straps would loosen them, not tighten them. Shameful." Logan chuckled as he entered the Pool area through the girl's locker room door, his army boots clonking on the damp, tiled floor.

Nicole stiffened, she and Katie were the last in line and closest to the door. _Oh god. OhgodOhgodOhgoddy god._

Katie, realizing that Nicole was on the door side, immediately switched places. Scott gave Logan a look as though Logan wasn't worth the energy it would take to reply, and continued down the line (hoping no one else decided to make such a show of themselves). Katie was still looking from Logan to Nicole, wondering if they were able to ignore each other, or if there needed to be some sort of intervention. Hopefully in the form of a SWAT squad and a helicopter.

The rest of the girls, however, did not share Scott, Katie, and Nicole's dislike of the man in question. The ones who had already passed the 'security' test, gathered closer together in small groups, talking and giggling and the bolder of them casting Logan some adoring looks. Logan chose to ignore them, though his face attained a slightly smug and satisfied expression.

Somewhat ironically, when Logan came to patrol in front of the line of girls with his hands behind his back, he reminded Nicole strongly of an superior army officer. When Logan came to a halt in front of Nicole, she half expected him to shout in her face and call her 'maggot', which of course would do nothing for her morale. But he didn't he merely glared at her, and with a severe amount of concentration she glared back. When Logan took a step forward, Nicole couldn't help but take a small step backward, feeling extremely vulnerable as if she were wearing her bra and panties instead of a bathing suit. "My cheek still smarts. Next time, don't expect Scott to be there to hold me back." he growled.

Feeling the familiar fury and agitation flaring up, Nicole glared at him with no difficulty now. How dare he talk to her like that? What gave him that right? "I'm so scared. I can barely think for trembling."

"You should be scared..." he replied in a most threatening manner, as though he wasn't quite sure how he was going to make her sorry, but it was going to be horrible. Leaning in to leer at her from closer up he punctuated the comment by poking her in the shoulder.

"Christ, can't you leave her alone?" Katie snapped, losing it. She normally tried to stay as uninvolved as possible, but no self-respecting friend would have let Nicole be threatened (though whether it was her life or her virginity, Katie couldn't tell) and not do something about it.

Nicole laughed, if not somewhat rudely, in Logan's face, not looking away but acknowledging Katie's comment. "Don't worry Katie. There isn't anything that he could possibly get away with doing to me with out getting fired." she snarled, her comment being very vague and innocent in consideration, but leaving much to the imagination all the same.

Katie couldn't help but snort with amusement as she saw the recognition in Logan's eyes of the very well hidden implication. Surely Nicole hadn't meant it in that sense, but it was still highly amusing to see Logan jumping to conclusions.

An odd expression took control of Logan's face, frustration and apprehension loomed in his eyes like dark blue storm clouds. Those stormy eyes flicked over Nicole's scantily clad form, remembering their brief meeting the night before. Her now dark, and angry brown eyes had been soft, and wide with virginal surprise, and the lips that were pursed had been parted and soft, and her body was not as bared to him as it was now. He still didn't need to reminder that he could not have her, even if he'd wanted her (or more, if she'd wanted anything to do with him). He'd been called a great deal of insults in what time he could remember, but he was not a pedophile.

"Did you get lost on the way to the locker room, Logan, or did you want to be the pool boy?" Scott asked, quietly, unintentionally breaking whatever moment there had been.

Scowling, Logan broke away from his observation of Nicole, bracing his hands on his hips in impatience. Really, did he have to go an explain his business to everyone? "Apparently, the faucets to the girl's showers have to be replaced, and I was checking out the damage. Also, I'm supposed to check up on the filter, it was being temperamental last month if I remember correctly, water turning a nasty, murky green." he challenged, glaring at Scott. "Apparently, I've gone from babysitter" his gaze flicked to Nicole momentarily, who was making no secret that she was listening to every word that he said, "to repairman. So, if you'll excuse me, please go about..." he motioned vaguely to the entire pool area with a sweeping movement of his hand, "doing what ever it is that the you guys do in this class that is oh so important." he growled. It was then that Nicole promptly noticed that hanging loosely about Logan's hips was a tool belt.

Scott simply gave Logan a look, and shoed everyone into the water, as Logan went and did something actually useful for once. Most of the students already knew how to swim, and so it was mostly just a free-for-all, though a group of dedicated (or slightly insane, depending) volleyball fans formed a giant game taking up nearly half of the pool. There was a lot of looking (checking out, really) of everyone in their bathing suits, and being checked out themselves, just in case something had changed in the two weeks or so between swim sessions.

As the volleyball game came to become extremely competitive, tempers were running high, and competitive insults whizzed back and forth over the net more than the ball did. Bobby and Pyro had been placed on opposite teams so there was an incident where Pyro (though slightly weakly since he and his lighter were wet) angrily set the ball aflame after Bobby's team won for the second time in a row. The female population of the opposing team dived squealing out of the way, and Bobby was forced to put the ball out before it bounced out of the pool and into Logan. Who snarled, annoyed. Couldn't he just do his job without any interruptions! Amid the confusion and squealing girls, Pyro managed to 'bump' into more than one girl, deftly loosening their bikinis.

Katie, who had been targeted, squealed with anger sparks literally jumping from her eyes, her hair standing on end, glaring at Pyro. "You asshole! You're such a pervert!"

"Katie! You're sparking!" Nicole yelled, trying to get her friend's attention before anyone got electrocuted.

Katie, realizing, hurriedly jumped out of the pool, still clutching at the loose ends of her bathing suit. "You are so DEAD!" She yelled at Pyro, glaring at him, hair, and fingers continuing to spark madly. "I'm going to KILL you!" He didn't look concerned, flashing her one of those charming-player grins that he was so good at.

"Lets save the death threats for after you're dry shall we Katie?" Scott said, approaching and cautiously placing a hand on her shoulder. Though he regretted it a split second later.

"Ah!" the two shouted at the same time as the pent up energy that had been safely crackling in between Katie's fingers and the ends of her hair, was transferred to Scott's hand. Stung, Scott recoiled, examining his hand.

Katie gasped softly when she saw that the palm of his hand was pink and raw looking. "Ohmygosh! I am so sorry!" she squealed, though she kept her hands on her top, to maintain her dignity, even though she would much rather grabbing Scott's hand and examining the damage. Or perhaps just to grab Scott's hand...

She tried to tie her top as quickly, but as securely as possible. Finishing she reached out carefully for his hand, hers now spark-less. "I'm so sorry!" she repeated, as he flinched ever so lightly when she reached out, as though half-expecting another shock. Oh, today was coming out nicely... she flashed most of the student body and shocked the one person she'd never wanted to.

Scott let a sigh hiss through his clenched teeth as he allowed her to poke and prod gently at his burnt hand. It wasn't all that bad really; the worst would be that it would sting for a while and feel a bit numb. "No problem, I should have known better than to go and touch you when you were soaking wet and upset..." he sighed, gently removing his hand from her grasp. _Even when I'm in pain, your touch is soft and sweet and pleasant_.

Katie sat back, dripping and feeling miserable. For some reason (_no, not some reason_... her mind interjected, smugly) it was absolutely killing her to see him in pain, especially pain that was her fault. Looking up at him, wide-eyed and biting her lip, she wished she could take it all back, and so wanted to hit Pyro all the more for being the reason for all this...

With a pang of surprise and a guilty squirm of his insides, he fought the urge to pull her to him and kiss away the doubt and guilt that shone clearly in her eyes, and to tell her that it wasn't her fault. Scott smiled, shifting his hand so that it slid into the pocket of his jeans. "Don't worry about it Katie, it's not your fault." Scott smiled, his whole face maneuvering around the expressionless ruby sunglasses so that his face was full of warmth and gentle understanding.

Katie took the time to notice that he had nice cheekbones and that when he smiled widely his teeth were just visible between his lips. She blushed. "I am sorry though... I knew that I wasn't supposed to let anything get to me when I'm in the pool with the others..." she mumbled, staring at her bare feet and shifting them uncomfortably.

He chuckled, and the sound was deep throated and warm, "Don't be so hard on yourself, Pyro is a player and has no respect for women's feelings. Now, lets get you a towel.." Blushing, Katie allowed Scott to usher her into the supply closet where he selected a thick, fluffy towel and handed it to her.

- - -

Logan was entirely uninterested in whatever was going on, not really caring if a few girls dropped their tops (at least, as long as their backs were to him he didn't care), and some student having difficulty controlling her electricity wasn't his problem either. His "problem" however, became a great deal more problematic as he stood up, slipped in something of a giant puddle (oh, how graceful) and fell with a great splash into the pool. Nearly landing on several people and swamping a few more.

Agh! Water, BAD. Thrashing around in surprise, Logan groped for something solid in this weightless world of water. He needed air. Finally after feeling nothing but the smooth, slippery bottom of the pool, he came in contact with something solid. Thankfully, he wrenched at it in order to propel himself from the water.

With a panicked squeal, Nicole went under. Thrashing against the firm grip on her hips, she tried to scream but bubbles were the only thing that came from her. She was pressed against the hard stretch of a body. Very hot despite the cold water. "Mmm!" was the only noise she could make, pressing her palms flat on his chest, and trying to push him away. Weakly, as she ran out of oxygen, Nicole struggled. _Let go... let go.. I can't breath! _She struggled until her feet came in contact with the ground. Instinctively, they both kicked against it. They must have floated to the deep end...

Nicole gasped for breath as her head broke the surface, clutching at the thing that had dragged her under, trying to use it to keep her afloat at the same time she tried to get as far away as she could lest it try to down her again... Coughing wetly, she blinked the chlorine from her eyes, wondering what the hell would have fallen so heavily into the pool...

Logan thrashed, still somewhat panicking until he drew in that first breath. Coughing up water, he held on as tightly as he could to the thing (it was a rather nice thing, he noted in the back of his mind, somewhat warm and soft), trying to blink away the water in his eyes.

Rather suddenly, there came a burst of sound that was at first very confusing, but as Nicole filled her lungs with nice, soothing oxygen she could begin to pick out the sounds of loud laughing, wolf whistles and cat calls. "Whoooo Logan! What a graceful fall. Where you a stunt double for Shamu in a past life!" Someone called, laughing hysterically.

There came a deep growl of anger. "Pyro, when I get out of this pool you'll be lucky enough to escape with your loins intact!" Logan's voice barked from in front of Nicole. Oh no. Logan fell...?

Sure enough, when Nicole's eyes cleared it was Logan's face that was slightly above hers, her arms were gripping his upper arms tightly and her head was nestled so that her nose and lips were too close to his chest for comfort. A faint, spiced, male scent penetrated the thin, white cotton shirt he wore, which was clinging to his chest. He had grabbed her, she came to the conclusion, for it was his iron vise-like grip on her hips, his thumbs pressing almost painfully into the hollows just beneath her hipbones.

Logan, giving Pyro one last Death Glare, looked down at his 'floatation device' to realize... Oh, damn. It just had to be Nicole, didn't it? Had to. But for once she didn't look she was going to try and slap him, though she was also half-drowned, which may have helped put a damper on her violence. He took a deep breath about to make a comment.

"Don't." was the soft plead, Nicole's fingers pressing into his upper arms. "Don't say a word." she whispered. Brown eyes, veiled with anger and frustration and some emotion he couldn't quite make out, stared up at him.

He couldn't help but laugh. "A. Word." he purred, grinning toothily.

"Ooooh!" she raged, struggling against him, completely infuriated. "You are the most infuriating- most repulsive-" she growled, beating on his chest, "Most loathsome being on earth!" she finished, glaring and panting for air.

His grip had not loosened and she was pressed against him even more so than she had been. And even more infuriating, Logan continued to smirk. "Let go of me!"

"You first."

Katie, standing on the 'sidelines' wrapped in a very nice warm fluffy towel, laughed. Oh, Nicole was definitely enjoying herself, even if she was glaring at the sexy (Katie thought this extremely grudgingly) wet man who was holding her so very tightly.

"Logan, I said let go of me…" Nicole growled, dangerously.

Daringly, Logan's eyebrow lifted and his lips twitched upward. "Oh, me? You're talking to me? Funny, I was beginning to assume that my name had been changed to asshole, or bastard, even pervert. But Logan? Wow."

Nicole sighed, growling in frustration at the same time. "Let Go! My hips are going to go numb!" She squealed, removing her hands from his upper arms to attempt prying Logan's fingers from her lower abdomen.

"Maybe I don't want to…" he challenged back, still smirking in that infuriatingly smug good-looking way. Nicole's eyes narrowed. "Let the hell go of me," she repeated, fed up with his I-can-do-whatever-I-want antics. He did not get a chance to make his smart comment. She held up her hands flat against his chest (refusing to let her mind comment), and pushed with her mind, sending him flying.

Logan went flying through the air, shouting hoarse oaths and curses as he went until he slammed into the wall with a satisfying _smack! _After the initial impact, Logan slid wetly down the tiled wall, landing with his legs sprawled open and his arms handing limply by his sides. Several of the girls in the Logan fan club (a rather scary organizantion, made up of fairly slutty girls whose only aim seemed to be making it into his pants) were squealing in distress. Logan groaned, lifting a hand to gingerly prod at the throbbing spot at the back of his head where it had smacked against the tile. The girl was going to pay this time…

The fan club paused for one long moment, undecided. Should they run to comfort their object of adoration? The murder in his eyes convinced them this might be a bad idea, and they ran for the locker room to plot against She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named (Nicole).

Scott decided this might be a good time to end class, and dismissed everyone. He hung around though, hoping Logan would be seriously hurt so Scott could make fun of him. Laughing softly, approaching Logan as the last of the students, which happened to be Nicole (who had dawdled in the water, having seen a shiny sparkly thing on the bottom of the pool and paused to retrieve it), retreated into the locker room. "Wow Logan. Somehow I find it hard to believe that you were defeated by a student, a girl no less. Oh, how the mighty have fallen." Scott chuckled, coming to a halt over Logan.

"Shut up, asshole," Logan replied, as the broken bones repaired themselves.

Scott laughed again, enjoying Logan's pain.

"Nicole!" Katie hissed excitedly. "What happened? I had been getting a towel…" Oh, and how very awkward it had been! He'd been in a hurry, as though not enjoying being alone with her, and she had taken it wrongly (he had been in a hurry, yes, but more to keep from giving in to the overwhelming urge to kiss her).

Nicole's face, which was hidden by her curtain of dark hair, colored brightly as she looked up from examining her trinket. "Oh, well, Logan tripped and fell into the pool, then he grabbed me and pulled me under." Nicole muttered vaguely. In her hand she held a shining silver dog tag on a small chain. She had found it lying on the bottom of the pool just after she knocked Logan out of it. Curiously, she held them up to the light. The word WOLVERINE was imprinted in bold lettering into the metal, followed by a series of numbers.

"And?" Katie prodded impatiently. Really, what was so interesting about some dirty dog tag? Who knew where it had been…

"And I didn't like it." Nicole continued, looping the chain over her head so the tag hung at her chest. "So I sent him away. And I think you know the rest."

Katie nodded, losing interesting. Nicole + Logan trouble was not a new equation. Running her fingers through her hair she added a light current, drying it as well as a blow dryer would have. "Do you know what's for lunch?"


	14. Chapter 14: Unholy Confessions

Later on, after the remained hours of the day turned out to be annoyingly uneventful, Logan was just getting ready to settle down for a restless night of sleep. Rummaging through his already messy drawer, he grumbled incoherently about his day to no one in particular, as he was alone. "Damn that Nicole!" he growled, finally giving up the search for clean pajama clothes and ripping his shirt off over his head. Screw it.

As the shirt fluttered to the floor, he paused for a moment, thinking. Something was wrong with this picture. Reaching up to his neck, he realized he was now dog-tag-less. "Fuck!" with something of a muted roar he started tearing apart his room frantically. WHERE WAS IT!

After what seemed like hours of frantic rummaging, Logan finally gave up, plunking down on his bed amid the sea of overturned furniture and scattered belongings. He groaned, ruffling his hair. That dog tag was his only link to his past. Where could he have lost it! Suddenly it hit him like a ton of bricks.

The pool… he vaguely remembered the thrashing and struggling both he and Nicole had done in an attempt to stay afloat. Great. His dog tag was lying at the bottom of the swimming pool. Or worse, it had been taken from the bottom of the pool and some random student was wearing it right now.

- - -

As Nicole and Katie got prepared for bed, Nicole couldn't quell the urge to examine the dog tag more closely. Who was "Wolverine"? She wondered vaguely, fingering the cool metal tag that lay just behind her nightshirt.

"Nicole, are you still playing with that dirty tag?" Katie asked, rolling her eyes.

"No!" Nicole lied, pretending.

"Its probably got AIDS." Katie replied, not buying Nicole's 'innocent act' at all.

"It does not have AIDS."

"For all you know, it could be Logan's and have spent hours pressed against his sweaty hairy hide! And now you've got it down your shirt. Good move Nicole."

Nicole scowled. "Well, is Logan's name Wolverine? I don't think so. Besides, that's far too many syllables for his tiny brain to comprehend." Nicole mumbled, not denying the fact that, if the tag were Logan's she wouldn't mind half as much as she should, that the tag had spent hours pressed against Logan's chest. Nicole's heart hammered in her chest despite her attempts to tell it to shut up. Secretly, she was almost certain that the tag was Logan's since she had found it after the incident in the pool, right under where Logan had been. Nicole decided that she really didn't want to discuss this matter with Katie anymore (who didn't seem to have any sympathy). Getting up she haphazardly tossed on pjs, and curled up on her side, one hand holding the tag until the name and numbers imprinted into her hand and fell rather soundly asleep.

Katie decided she was going to ignore Nicole back, as her friend probably needed sleep. Moving her pillows to hunt for the sleepwear she'd misplaced that morning, she found something entirely more interesting. Opening the small, red envelope with a tingle of anticipation, she carefully unfolded the rose-printed (mMm, rose scented as well) notepaper...

The paper made crisp crinkling noise as she unfolded it. The handwriting was small, and neat and elapsed into an attractive mix between cursive and print, with slightly larger, sweeping capital letters for the first word of each sentence. With rising anticipation Katie began to read;

_Katie,_

_You are the most beautiful young woman I have had the fortune of laying my eyes on. Upon your entrance into a room, my heart skips a beat. Your image haunts my dreams. Like a reoccurring nightmare, though sweet and warm, my dreams of you set my soul aflame. Your face, so angelic and soft, haunts my mind. Thoughts of your creamy pale skin and crystalline blue eyes are the only ones that come to mind when left alone to think. Like a poison, though hot and sweet and not at all unpleasant, your voice sends chills down my spine, dragging me down into sweet oblivion. Though I wish not to scare you, when you are around I cannot take my eyes off of you, though you do not acknowledge my presence. My heart burns for you, my darling angel. _

_I expect I will write again soon, I did not wish to frighten you if I have._

_I merely wished to make my feelings known to you,_

_Shade._

Katie gasped again, softly, trembling all over in pleasure. Oh! There was nothing more for her to think, lost as she was in the idea of someone thinking such thoughts about her. With a shiver she read and re-read the note again, absolutely floored in a most wonderful way. Already she wanted the next note, Shade's skill with words leaving her wondering how such an intelligent and passionate person could possibly be carrying the torch for her. As much as she yearned to know who this mysterious stranger was, she half-expected some sort of dreadful punch line. This was something far too wonderful a thing to be real...

"Psst, Nicole!" Katie hissed, leaning over, hoping her friend wasn't already asleep. Unfortunately, Nicole only made a muffled squeak, almost in fear, as though she was having a most interesting dream...


	15. Chapter 15: Smoulder And Surrender

Indeed, Nicole was having a most interesting dream;

Sighing, Nicole stepped into the blessed heat of the shower. The sudden change from cold to hot causing goose bumps to rise on her skin. The water was hot and soothed her into a relaxed lull as she listened to the pitter-pattering of the droplets of water on the slippery shower floor. She smiled, showers were always nice. Hot... and comforting and- BANG. The door flew open with such force that it bashed against the wall. Failing to muffle a squeak of surprise, Nicole pulled back the curtain curiously to see who had come for a visit. "Get ou- Oh my god!" she squealed, retreating behind the curtain more to make sure that nothing was visible.

Logan stood stalk still in the doorway, his eyes dark and burning with an unknown emotion. He strode over the threshold and shut the door behind him.

"Logan! I'm taking a shower!" was the only defense that Nicole could come up with, snatching up a towel from its hanger and wrapping it around her, though it did little to protect her as it became wet and molded to her frame like a second skin...

"I can see that." Logan growled softly.

"Then what do you want?" She squeaked, backing up. He was looking at her in a way that made her insides squirm (though not entirely unpleasantly), and she still could not place that emotion in his eyes...

"I want you Nicole." he replied, voice husky with suppressed desire. He stepped forward, closer, eyes glittering like a predator's.

Nicole tried to back farther into the corner but was unable too, knees weak with a mixture of fear and a something else, a something that sent shivers down her spine, and made her half-want to just swoon into his arms and let it happen... Looking up at him she could not manage to shift through her conflicting emotions, feeling like one of those romance-book heroines that hates their tall, dark stranger until he finds them one night and "teaches them the meaning of desire"...

He came ever closer, until he was standing just outside of the tub. "Don't.. I-I-I-I mean, you're still wearing your clothes! They'll get all wet-" she faltered as he kicked off his boots and socks, and stepped into the shower. "Eep!" she squealed, backing away into a farther corner.

He chuckled softly, those predator eyes glittering eerily as he continued to approach.

"L-Logan... let's think about this... y-you can't possibly want me. I mean, I'm..." she faltered, he was getting really close now, radiating a heat entirely different from that of the hot water, which he stepped right through to get to her.

"But I do want you Nicole. Very. Very. Badly..." he purred as his hands came to rest against the tile walls on either side of her, trapping her. Nicole whimpered softly, the way he was looking at her made delicious tremors rack her body. His face was inches from hers, wet, and dripping, his clothes were clinging to him. His hand's heat permeated through the wet towel when they slid up her sides. "I want to hear you scream my name..." he whispered, mouth inches from hers.

She managed a small, breathy noise of protest before it dissolved into a moan as he pressed his mouth against hers. She raised her hands in protest, trying to push him off of her... but, with almost a life of their own her hands went to the back of his neck, twined into his hair, holding him closer. One of his hands blazing a trail of heat up her side found the knot holding her towel on and roughly untied it, fingertips brushing the wet, soft hot-velvet skin he'd had to wait far too long to touch...

"Mm!" Nicole gasped as her only means of 'clothing' was allowed to slip between the two of them with out breaking the kiss. His tongue delved deeply between her lips, boldly exploring and teasing. All the while his hands sought out the most secret places, stroking and teasing unmercifully, driving her to dizziness. She couldn't breath and his hands were everywhere. Insistently, his hands parted her legs and he moved between them, by instinct she knew to grip him around the middle with her legs and she gripped hard. Oh lord please don't let this dream end... soaking wet denim protected her from the pulsating protrusion of arousal that was obviously her fault.

"Christ Nicole..." he cursed when they parted, pressing her into the wall harder.

She kept one hand looped around his neck, wanting to stay as close to him as she possibly could, tugging at the wet denim of his pants with the other, fighting with a zipper that (just to spite them, it seemed) would not allow them release...

When the zipper finally came to cooperate, Logan's pants fell to the floor in a sopping heap, followed closely by his shirt and his boxers. The soft cry of "Logan!" from Nicole was followed by a series of breathy moans and soothing oaths from her dream-lover. Moans and ragged breathing permeated the sound of rushing water, ending with the two lover's drawn out cries of pleasure and passion.

" NICOLE YOU LAZY ASS! GET. OUT. OF. BED!"

Nicole opened an eye to see Katie standing over her, glaring. "Get Up Now! You Have Five Minutes To Breakfast!" She continued yelling, gesturing at Nicole rather overly enthusiastically with a hairbrush. Katie had gotten up earlier than usual, and had spent nearly an hour at the mirror. She wasn't exactly sure why, but it had something to do with wanting to make sure 'Shade' wasn't disappointed... "Nicole! What are you doing?"

Nicole had just rolled over, wanting to slip back into her dream... "Mmmmm... " Nicole whined, gripping the dog-tag tightly in one hand and hugging her pillow to her face with the other. "Good dreeeeaaaaammm Kaefer... such a good dreammm..." she whimpered. She could almost see Logan's face almost feel the balmy heat of the steamy bathroom...

Snarling, Katie yanked the covers from Nicole's body. "Get up!"

"No!" Nicole snapped back, yanking her sheets back without touching them.

"Yes!" Katie snarled back, yanking them back. The tug-of-war lasted for quite some time, until Katie finally gave up. "Nicole, if you want breakfast you're going to get up now. But if you don't, then I don't care, but I'm going to go get something to eat!" Nicole had made her a little late, but a dramatic entrance worked just as well for her purposes...

As Katie left the room in a huff, she couldn't help but wonder who Shade was... Passionate, flattering, intelligent... He didn't sound like anyone on school premises. She could think of only one person, but she immediately shoved her image of Scott, smiling warmly as he had the day before, to the back of her mind.

"Grrrrr." Nicole mumbled, rolling unceremoniously from bed with a thud. When she stood up, she immediately regretted getting out of bed. "Ick. I'm all... sticky" she grimaced. _Well, that's not exactly much of a surprise_... her inner voice nagged disapprovingly. "I might as well just take a shower," she muttered to herself, really not wanting to go down to breakfast all sticky. Its not like she was really hungry anyway. Walking gingerly, not liking this feeling at all, she gathered up her things and wandered down the hall towards the nearest bathroom.

Logan woke up with a similar feeling, though he didn't find it quite as unpleasant as Nicole had. He just wished he could have actually remembered this dream, as it had obviously been one good one. _God, I need a shower_...

- - -

Katie was rather irritated as she entered the dining hall, filled with the overly awake faces of small children and the glassy-eyed stares of teenagers who really wished they could have slept to noon. This wasn't what irritated her, that was the several someone's occupying her and Nicole's usual seats. Sighing to herself, she plopped down in the only available one she could see: next to Arch, the last person she'd wanted to talk to that morning. It was also diagonal to Scott's, which was much closer than she usual sat, but she tried to ignore that fact.

Arch brightened considerably as Katie sat down, and off to the side Scott smiled. "You're a little late this morning." Arch commented, blue eyes sparkling with adoration and concern. "Alarm clock malfunctioning or something?" he questioned, as he watched Katie pile food onto her plate.

Katie smiled, resisting the urge to flinch at the unadulterated adoration that shone in Arch's eyes as she did. "No, I couldn't get Nicole out of bed if my life depended on it. She's not a morning person, and even worse she must have been having nightmares all night because she sounded like some sort of wounded animal, mewling and whimpering..." Katie shook her head. She had had experience with Nicole's infrequently powerful dreams, she was surprised that nothing went flying around the room or something of that sort. Then there had been that time when everyone who had been involved in one of Nicole's nightmares had the same exact dream... they all woke up screaming at the same exact time.

Arch smiled, relieved. "Oh. Then I suppose you didn't get much sleep either because of the racket she was making."

Katie flinched, but plastered her smile back on her face. "No... I was unable to go to sleep anyhow... I had... other things on my mind."

"Like what?" Arch asked, watching her.

Katie shrugged, "Just... other things.", already looking for a way to leave early though she'd barely started eating. Arch had been cute at first, she'd liked him, she really had..., but now it was starting to grate on her. And it was much, much too easy to start comparing him to her mysterious note-giver... "So... um... Hey, Scott! What're we doing in simulation today?" Hopefully if she got someone else involved in conversation, Arch would be better. Or go away. (besides, its not like she would _mind_ listening to Scott...)

Scott jumped, his fork missing his plate of scrambled eggs completely, his fork was thrust into the table. "Damn." he hissed, attempting to jerk his fork from the wood of the table. "Well," he grunted through clenched teeth as he yanked the fork from the table. He sighed, putting the fork down and leaning across the table to talk to Katie, who attempted not to giggle after seeing Scott's sudden bout of clumsiness. "I was thinking about using a more real life situation with the Brotherhood of Mutants, since they seem to be very active as of late."

"That sounds like fun," Katie commented, though she wondered why he'd looked so... startled. Maybe he just wasn't so awake in the morning?

Arch just nodded, looking a little let down as Katie completely ignored him in favor of the teacher.

"Would it be teams or everyone for themselves?" She wasn't exactly engrossed in this conversation either, but it was a great deal better than trying to brush off Arch without hurting him (he was too cute to hurt).

Scott shrugged, "Well, a mix of both I would have to say. In reality, the X-Men work together as best they can, but things happen and we get separated, so you guys have to be able to function on your own as well as working together as a team." Scott sighed, taking a sip of his coffee. He flinched, forgetting that it was black, Logan's specialty. "Bleck.." he choked, immediately reaching for the cream and sugar. "Nasty stuff when it's black, coffee." he grumbled to no one in particular, though he was surprised when Katie responded,

"Tea's better, it doesn't need as much sugar, and it actually has more caffeine than coffee."

Scott smiled. That was Katie for you, always chock full of interesting little tid bits. "I'll remember that." he laughed.

Katie looked back down at her food, liking the idea that she had made Scott laugh. Arch then attempted to re-gain her attention with some comments about the history essay they had due that day, and Katie sighed to herself. So much for trying to look around for likely Shade-suspects.

- - -

Nicole was extremely happy to have found the bathroom empty, most times there was a fairly long line for the showers. Relaxing in the hot water, she thought over her dream, having thoroughly enjoyed it, despite the subject matter. So she nearly screamed when there was a knock at the bathroom door.

"Hurry up in there!" Someone extremely familiar growled through the door.

"Hold on!" she squealed, scrambling to quickly finish her shower before Logan decided to break down the door. But through the panic that coursed through Nicole's veins something else made her knees tremble and her breath come in ragged gasps, was this the dream all over again? The following knock was sharp with impatience. She quickly shut off the water, and literally fell out of the tub and landed hard on her side. "Oww.." she whimpered softly.

"Are you alright? What happened?" Logan's voice was still impatient but he sounded generally concerned, the doorknob jiggled.

Nicole scrambled for a towel, rubbing at her side. "I'm fine! Don't come in!" she continued squealing, not wanting to be caught barely dressed by Logan... or did she? As nice as her dream had been, that wasn't a possibility she wanted to think about right now.

Logan sighed impatiently, leaning on a post of the doorway. Girls, always professing that they're fine and expecting you to believe them. When he heard another thud (Nicole had tripped on her towel on the way to the sink where she had put her brush and hit her head on the counter.), he jiggled the doorknob a little more vigorously. "You sure you're alright in there?" Logan's voice growled from the other side of the door.

Groaning and rubbing her head, Nicole shook the tears of pain from her eyes. She was fully clothed now, but still...Logan's face was not exactly the first thing she wanted to see this morning...

When she didn't reply, Logan decided to take action. The lock clicked, and the door banged open. Logan, standing there imposingly on the bathmat and looking down on her, had a sudden, though not unwelcome, flashback... _"Then what do you want?" She squeaked, backing up. "I want you Nicole." he replied, voice husky with suppressed desire._ Startled, he stepped back, unsure for a moment whether he had just actually said that...

Nicole was sitting on the floor feet away in front of the sink, her hand pausing its attempt to sooth her throbbing head. Thankfully she was fully clothed, her towel lay in a heap next to her. Her brows were knit together with annoyance, but her brown eyes were as wide and innocent as a baby doe's, watching him apprehensively, almost fearfully. Her soft brown eyes were large and fearful, he watched her try and back into a corner and away from him. But her knees were trembling and shaking badly, her entire body trembling deliciously. _By god, he wanted her so bad_...Still confused, Logan cleared his throat, "Sorry." he grunted.

Those eyes flicked away from him, determinedly staring at her towel as she stood up and began to gather her things. "I suppose you think it's fun unlocking doors with your claws? I could have been naked you know. Then again, that wouldn't be the first time that you've walked in on me half clothed or other wise..." she snapped.

"That was an accident." He grumbled in a half-hearted apology. It wasn't like he had exactly minded seeing her topless, though he could have done without that particular pleasure. Backing out of the room, not really wanting her to try and attack him again. As much as he healed, it still hurt. "You need to stay on your feet and off the floor, or I won't be the only one walking in on you..."

Completely ignoring his comment, Nicole went on, turning to face him after she had all of her things in order. She made to walk out of the door, but turned to look back at him. "Do you do that to everyone? Walk in with out even letting them know, or knocking?" her face was impassive and her voice cool and soft, a pleasant change compared to her yelling.

One side of his mouth tucked into an annoying smile, and he leaned toward her, bracing his weight on the doorframe. "No, only for you." he purred.


	16. Chapter 16: Open Your Eyes

Katie did not notice the borderline relieved look on Scott's face (he hid it well) as the bell for the first class rang. Grabbing her bag in one hand she grabbed one of the larger muffins with the other, so that Nicole wouldn't have to starve. Finding a spot off to the side of the doors, near the stairs, She waited for her lazy friend to decide to appear. Arch, being a good puppy, followed, gently putting an arm around her shoulder, and making determined small talk.

After what seemed like hours of meaningless small talk and Arch hanging off of her every word and move, Nicole came slowly down the stairs, looking as if she had other things on her mind. She was frowning, and fiddling with that god damned dog tag, which hung over her long-sleeved turtleneck. Sighing and feeling annoyed, Katie rushed forward to shake Arch off of her. "Nicole! Finally! You missed breakfast completely. But, I brought you a muffin!" she added on a bright side.

Nicole looked up at her, a little bemused. "Thanks." she mumbled softly.

"Nicole?" Katie asked, a little confused. Talk about mood swings! Nicole went from some sort of scary dream, to angrily protesting the morning, to mumbling? "Are you alright? Is there anything you want to tell me?" Giving Arch a brief, noncommittal smile, she tried to herd Nicole off to their first period, History (with Nightcrawler, if he wasn't sick again).

Once Arch was out of earshot, Katie turned to Nicole, expecting her to spill the beans. However, Nicole merely stared at her muffin sullenly. _"No, only for you."_ His words still echoed freshly at the back of her mind. How irritating. She expected him to have absolutely no sense of privacy with everyone else as well. It wasn't exactly what she could call comforting that he'd let whatever dregs of manners that he had, slip from his mind whenever she just _happened_ to be the one involved. Though at the same time, the way he had put it made it sound like both a compliment, and an annoyance to him. _Well, It's not my fault that he has bad timing, _Nicole thought bitterly.

"Nicole? Are you listening to me? What happened!?" Katie snapped waspishly, what was it with Nicole today?

"Well..." Nicole started, wavering a bit before launching into a full-scale confession of her entire morning as they walked, going over the dream in more detail than Katie probably would have liked, and then the encounter in the bathroom... "Ugh! I wouldn't mind so much if I know what to think!" Nicole concluded, complaining and looking confused and not so happy to be so. "He's just so... arg." Nicole made a noise of irritation. "It would be so much easier if Logan wasn't so-" Here she stopped dead in the doorway, gaping. For who was lounging in the teacher's chair, feet on the desk, than the devil himself.

"Nicole? What happened?" Katie asked, peering over her friend's head. "What's Logan doing here? Where's the teacher?"

"Professor Wagner is unfortunately, indisposed." Logan drawled, grinning lazily as if he couldn't care less about Kurt Wagner at the moment.

Nicole bristled, "Who in their right mind would allow you to substitute a class?" she snapped, clutching her books to her as if they were a shield, and Logan the fire-breathing dragon.

Logan cocked an eyebrow, "Xavier." he growled, "Now, if you don't mind you two, could you kindly take your seats?"

Nicole refused to back down "What for? Its not like you're going to teach us anything, unless you'd like to open our eyes to the wonderful world of the repairman."

Logan did not look amused in the least at that last comment, though most of the class laughed, and several nodded along enthusiastically. Katie muffled a snort, though she thought that Nicole really was going to far, mocking him in front of students who were supposed to be respecting his authority. "Nicole, I don't think this is a good time..." She muttered, though no one heard her.

Sitting up, he slid his feet from the desk with a smack of his boots on hard tile. He fixed Nicole with a glare that would have sent the boldest of the older students running. "Oh, believe me there's a very long list of things that I'd just _love_ to 'open your eyes to' " he growled. Katie had to muffle another snort, _oh the multiple meanings_..

Logan waited for a reaction, half-absorbed in his own internal problems. Oh, it was irritating really, how much he seriously wanted to open her eyes to some certain things... On what he felt had to be a related note, this half-knowledge of the dream was driving him mad. Why couldn't he? This had never happened to him before, it was making him think all too much, and he didn't like it. Biting back a growl of frustration, Logan watched the two girls cross in front of him and plunk into the only remaining seats, right in front of him.

Nicole promptly ignored him, banging her bag onto the top of her desk and rummaging around in it for something. Logan tried to restrain himself from staring openly at her, taking in every slight movement, every time she paused in her search for something that seemed to be eluding her at the bottom of her bag to flick her hair out of her eyes, and the fierce concentration on her face, grumbling incoherently. From where Logan was sitting he could tell that she wasn't at all listening to Katie's steady flow of distracting conversation, it was obvious that Katie didn't want Nicole to pounce over her desk and attempt to claw his face off. Finally Nicole had drawn a shabby looking sketch book and a case of professional drawing pencils from her bag, finally shoving it from her desk top and immediately flipping open to a half finished drawing.

Katie appeared to look impatient, and Logan vaguely heard her hiss, "Nicole! I hate when you draw while I'm talking to you! You get very irritable and never listen to-"

"Hush! I'm drawing the hair and that's the hardest part! Just shut up for a minute, we'll talk about your stupid love note some other time..." Nicole muttered in reply, concentration as fierce as ever.

Curious now, Logan leaned forward slightly, peering at the sketchpad. It was hard to see what she was drawing as her face was very close to it, her dark hair falling in curtains over the stark white material. Her fingers were taut around her pencil and moving in quick strokes. It was sort of funny actually, watching her get so immersed in her drawing.

Katie looked at Nicole, extremely offended. She did not think the note stupid in the least. Deciding not to talk to her friend until she got an apology, she pulled out a notebook and started trying to create a "shade possibility" list. So far, zero names.

Nicole looked up, realizing that someone was craning their neck to try and see what she was drawing. "Logan, I'm not drawing any naked women, so there's nothing you'd be interested in."

A ripple of laughter made its way around the room. Offended, with his ego suffering a minor blow, he glared at the bane of his existence. "I happen to be very interested in what you're drawing Miss Vigneau." he said coolly, "In fact, I'm sure you wouldn't mind sharing your drawing with the teacher?" Without waiting for an answer, he vaulted himself over the teacher's desk with graceful ease, and snatched up her sketchbook.

"No! I- It's not finished!" Nicole squealed, standing up to attempt to pry the sketchbook from Logan's fingers. Effortlessly, he placed a hand on her shoulder to keep her at arms length while he stared at the picture. It was a sketch of a shirtless man, wearing a pair of jeans and appeared to be dripping wet. In fact... it looked remarkably like himself, though he refused to delve deeper into what he felt about this notion. Interested, he flicked through the whole sketchbook, ignoring Nicole's protests. "Give it back! "

"No, I think you can wait. Besides, what's so important that I can't see it?" He asked, more civilly than usual. She wasn't all that bad, he had to admit, though he would have preferred her subject matter not consist of so many men with their shirts off. She glared up at him resentfully, not liking that this hand on her shoulder was enough to keep her sitting down and out of his way.

Pouting sulkily, Nicole briefly toyed with the idea of biting Logan's hand, but decided against it. There was no way of telling that he wouldn't return the favor. So she sat there, glaring up at him, watching his eyes flick over the pages. Nervously, she tried to remember if she had drawn anything extremely and embarrassingly bad in that particular sketchpad, it wasn't exactly helping that she couldn't read Logan's expressionless face. That was the sketch book that she had drawn character sketches of all of the people she knew, including Logan, drawing them from different perspectives when they weren't looking and standing still enough displaying their different characteristic expressions. They were nothing special, but they were in great detail and had notes on the sides of them. She had to stop him before Logan got to the page dedicated to him. She had gone through the trouble of actually coloring the sketches of him, many notes scribbled on the sides, making comments about his anatomy and facial expressions and much more.

Logan paused briefly on what looked something like a "character sketch" or whatever the hell it was called of Katie, barely glancing over the comments... next was one of Bobby, glanced over that one. Next one of Arch, skimmed over it as well... Completely refused to look at the one of Scott... and came to a halt at the next one, which was obviously & undeniably of him.

He vaguely heard Nicole make a small whimper of protest, but he ignored her, stepping away from her and going to sit at the teacher's desk. The page featured a full body sketch of him that filled the right hand side from top to bottom. His hands were in his pockets and he was looking to the left, his infamous smirk on his face. The sketch was in very detailed color. Slightly smaller sketches also took up the rest of the page, some just of his face and his many expressions, and a few dedicated to his hands and his claws. Along with each sketch were neatly written notes. Her handwriting was annoyingly small, but neat enough so he could read it if he squinted a bit. Small comments such as: _On the short and stalk-y side, but muscular all the same. Or Light blue eyes; turn dark when he's flustered, aroused, or furious. Mostly the latter, Hair always ruffled, he must run his fingers through it a lot. Always wears the same jacket._

"I do not." he muttered to himself, and as he finished reading, flicked disinterestedly through the last five or so drawings, before handing Nicole back her sketchbook (of course, handing it back as though he wanted to, not because she wanted it back). "I'm glad you find me so fascinating," he commented quietly, looking somewhat undecided as to what to think. Was he flattered she paid such close attention, or more irritated...?

Nicole glared at him, quickly stowing her sketchbook back into her backpack. "I don't." she denied, a flush rising high on her cheeks "If you noticed I made comments on everyone else as well. Don't flatter yourself. And you do too wear the same jacket everywhere, that denim one." She smirked when his jaw dropped in utter shock.

_Could the girl really be that observant?_

Nicole smiled at him. "Yes, I am..."

Logan looked up at her, mouth closing with a snap. "Leave my thoughts alone!" he barked at her, somewhat enraged.

Nicole stuck her tongue out cutely at him. "I'll do whatever I want to."

"Oh, that's _real_ lady-like..."

"I'm not being paid to be mature." she mocked, looking up at him through her lashes. An alien sensation made his stomach clench. "Besides, you deserve it for all of the times that you've invaded my own privacy." she snapped.

Defense mechanism finally kicking in, Logan roughly grabbed a chair and straddled it, his face inches from Nicole's. "It's not like I planned it all of those times that I've walked in on it. It's almost like you're there on purpose every time I let myself slip." he growled.

Brown eyes burned like embers into his own cold blue ones. Her face was wiped blank of any smug expression, replaced with a cold fury that made him cringe mentally. "You mean when you brought your slut home? You must have thought you were pretty high and mighty to dare bring a whore into this school. You're lucky I didn't tell anyone ..." she hissed, leaning toward him threateningly.

Both were completely unaware of the attention of the whole class while they strained to hear their whispered conversation, they were inches from each other, and some of the members of the Logan fan club were anxiously hoping that they didn't realize that they were within kissing range.

Katie, watching Nicole and Logan have a weird encore of their (memorable) breakfast staring contest, was more than a little relieved to hear the bell ring.


	17. Chapter 17: Letter

The rest of the morning and lunch were not particularly exciting, involving the usual boring classes, and the vague excitement of trying to avoid the overly attentive Arch while not letting him realize that he was being avoided. Altogether, nothing out of the ordinary (Though Katie did note that Scott nearly missed lunch, coming in extremely late, which was out of character).

But this was the last thing on her mind as she dropped her bag in her room, taking a last minute to touch herself up and switch her things before running off to the Danger Room. In fact, she was so preoccupied, she nearly sat on the red envelope, twin of the one she'd found the night before. With shaking hands she opened it, her heart beating rapidly. Eagerly anticipating what Shade had to say today,

_Katie. Darling,_

_I know that I wrote only last night, but I could not stay away. Your beauty keeps my heart on a tether. I fear I could never stay away from you too long, for my heart would burst. If only I could be with you always. Hold you close to me, and feel your heart beat against my chest. As I watched you today, and knew you had read my letter... it took all of my self control not to reveal myself to you, to hold you, kiss you, run my fingers through your silken hair and tell you how much I love you. For that is what I feel for you. My heart burns for you with the passion of a thousand suns. Just after lunch I saw you, sitting on the window seat, the sunlight bathing you with a warm golden glow...you looked like an angel... just begging for me to come to you. Begging me to envelop you in my arms and take you right there, with everyone watching. I want to hear you sigh and moan my name while I show you just how much I long for your caress and the feel of your skin beneath my eager fingertips._

_I love you. I need you. I can't stop thinking about you._

_Shade_

Katie sat down heavily, with a drawn-out gasp and a massive shiver. His words had set her to trembling in a most lovely way, and she found herself wanting him to do what he said he'd wanted to. Arousal (because that's what he was doing, turning her on), desperate curiosity (just who was he?), and anticipation for the next note were heady emotions to mix, and she nearly swooned. Damn, he was a good writer... but now she'd barely be able to concentrate on her next class.

- - -

Eventually, Katie made it down to the locker rooms in one piece, her knees still trembling as she went over the letter over and over in her mind. Upon her entrance, Nicole burst, "FINALLY! God you take FOREVER! C'mon! Scott, Logan and everyone else are waiting for you!".

Silently, Katie brushed past Nicole and put on her leather uniform, making sure it fit snuggly just in case Shade was going to be watching...

"About time!" growled Logan, as the two girls exited the locker room, "its been a good half hour since the lesson should have began.." he continued but Scott cut him off sharply.

"Shut up Logan. If you'll recall, I'm the teacher of this class, not you. The girls are here now so lets not make a big deal of it.." he snapped. He looked flustered, and he kept running his hand through his hair and pulling at the collar of his suit.

Logan fell quiet, though he looked like he would have liked to just end the argument by giving Scott a good, solid smack to the head. Scott ignored him, trying to regain some of his composure. "Alright," he began, turning back to address his crowd of leather-clad students. "Today we're going to do something entirely different, and I want you to pay attention." he continued, still looking like his thoughts were elsewhere as he explained about the Brotherhood-Sim they were going to be doing.

"Now, this sim is going to be very realistic. You will be able to see, feel, smell, and taste everything as if it were real. If debris falls on your head, you'll have a bump for days, if you fall on something sharp, you will get cut. Any injuries that you suffer will not disappear as the simulation is de-activated. So be careful. The object of this sim is to work together as a team." Scott looked at Logan briefly, "For once." he added for good measure. Not that this little speech affected Logan in the slightest as he could heal from any wound that he received, so as usual he didn't pay attention to a word that Scott said. Scott really didn't care if Logan paid him any attention, if Logan fucked up than it was Logan whose ass would be on the line. Besides, he'd gotten used to it.

"Now, I want you to be on your guard. If you've been paying any attention, you'll have some idea of what you're going to be up against, but the selection is random. You need to be careful, and you need to help each other out. Are you ready?" The students all nodded mutely at him, (Pyro shaking his head "no" because he could), and Scott nearly sighed with relief as the sim started, sending them into a dark, sketchy sort of alleyway between a shady parking garage and an abandoned-looking warehouse. _Finally, some distraction... _

The sudden change from light to dark surprised Katie and she grabbed the first person she could reach in surprise. "Agh! Katie get off!" Nicole hissed, pushing at her friend's shoulders, "You scared me! Grabbing me when it's pitch black... could have been anyone.." Nicole trailed off into incoherent grumbles.

Sighing, Katie let go of her, shaking her head. She had forgotten that Nicole always got tense during sims. Especially in sims that included real injuries. Everyone stood stalk still, trying to see in the gloom.

"Everyone stay together." Scott's voice traveled to them from the front of the group, "And stay sharp... if anyone is acting peculiarly don't trust them. Mystique is a shape shifter.."

This word of advice didn't help much, as students began eyeing their friends and companions shiftily. The tension was mounting, and the group was beginning to split into smaller bands. Just as Scott was about to say something else practical and leader-ly, the silence was split by a high scream as one of the girls was seized by the throat from behind by a massively large man with freakishly long eyebrows and cat-like claw-nails.

"Holy shit!" Nicole squealed, pointing in a completely different direction , at a boy being smacked in the face by a disgustingly long, green tongue that protruded from the mouth of a short skinny guy who was crouching, sideways on the wall of the warehouse.

"Don't just stand there! DO Something!" Logan growled, launching himself into the cat-like man, who yowled and dropped the girl. All of the students seemed not to know what to do, but a few seemed to snap to attention at Logan's words.

What order there had been dissolved into near absolute chaos, with members of the Brotherhood appearing on either side at random (it seemed), throwing most of the weaker and/or less wary students completely off-guard.

"Goddamn it, you'd think they'd be used to it by now!" Nicole snarled to herself, as she was forced to rescue a petrified looking boy from what looked like a human porcupine.

"Maybe they're just not as warlike as you are," Katie commented back, almost obscenely calmly. Stepping behind her friend for a moment, she took a deep breath, trying to feel the latent electricity running through the darkened garage's light system. If she managed to turn it on, maybe they'd be able to see what they were up against...?

Unfortunately, as Katie built up enough energy and the lights finally burst into life, it only illuminated a scene of (no longer 'near', but) absolute chaos. Younger, more inexperienced students were running in all directions, while the older students fought to keep them safe and under control. A huge man kept crashing through walls after Kitty, an elderly man wearing a metal helmet was floating feet above them, tossing huge metal objects up and letting them fall into the swarm of panicked younglings, the toad-like man was tossing students hither and thither with his powerful, sticky tongue, and a blue woman who was apparently completely naked and covered in strange scales was morphing into other students and had even impersonated Scott.

Meanwhile, completely in their own world, the cat-man and Logan were in the middle of a vicious combat. Claws flashing and teeth bared, both emitting animalistic growls and hisses.

"Shit." Katie commented, though now that she'd turned the lights on it would only make it worse to turn them off.

"Nice job," Nicole replied, stopping one of the larger metal pieces that had been flung their way, and tossing it back. Now it was impossible to ignore how what a very bad idea this seemed to have been.

"Nicole, have fun. I'm going after that toad-thing," Katie decided at last, with a grimace of distaste.

"Ew, good luck. " Nicole called, her body giving in to involuntary shuddering as she tried to force a streetlight post back into Magneto's face.

"You young people!" he called, laughing at Nicole's struggle, his eyes sparkling malevolently, "Always biting off more than you can chew." he growled. He brought his hands together, and the post twisted itself around Nicole, trapping her arms to her sides. She then was thrust forcefully up against the wall of the warehouse. Nicole's body went rigid from the forceful contact with the solid brick, then her body went limp as everything around her faded away to darkness.

"Nicole!" Katie squealed, turning her back on Toad momentarily to stare at her unconscious friend. What happened? Was she alright? But there was no time to think about it as she felt Toad's tongue wrap around her angle. "BLECK!" she screamed, stomping down on his tongue with her high-heeled boot. Toad screamed, his tongue rolling back into his mouth as he covered it, dancing from foot to foot in pain. "Serves you right, you've got a dirty tongue!"

Trying to keep a watchful eye on Toad at the same time, Katie called out. "Bobby!"

He, some thirty feet away with Pyro and defending a large gaggle of younglings (yay for mixing movies), looked up. "What?"

"Nicole!" She called back, pointing. Didn't cold things help wake people up?

He nodded at her, and right about there she lost track of what she'd been doing as she was almost hopped on in an undignified, and a large wad of some disgustingly sticky green stuff was hacked onto her face.

"Fuck!" she tried to mumble through it, giving him the best shock she could manage under the circumstances, trying not to panic as she realized she couldn't breathe. Katie's lungs felt like they were on fire as the world around her began to spin. Losing her footing, she fell to her knees, desperately trying to pry the gunk from her face, but to her horror it had dried. Can't breathe...

"Katie!" Scott's voice seemed to call to her from far away. "Katie, don't move!" she felt his presence over her, he was pinning her to the ground with his hand on her shoulder. A burning heat enveloped her face momentarily and the disgusting dried gunk broke from her face like shattered glass.

Gasping, she breathed in the sweet, wonderful air.

Scott's face hovered over her, looking concerned and anxious. "You ok?"

She nodded at him weakly, coughing and gasping. "Now I am, thanks." she tried to reassure him in a raspy voice, not wanting him to be worried about her when she was (now, at least) fine. Finally getting her breathing under some control she took the hand he held out to her, standing up, before clutching onto him blindly for support as she dissolved in another coughing fit.

From somewhere above her head, Katie heard Scott chuckle. He wrapped an arm around her waist to keep her up, and a warm hand rubbed up and down her back gently. "You sure that your alright?" he murmured softly into her ear.

She shivered, remembering his hands doing the same thing that they were doing now. Sliding up and down... up and down soothingly... "Y-yeah. m'fine..." She shivered again, wanting more than anything to move in closer to him, wanting him to really hold her... but obviously, she couldn't, he was only being nice to her because that was what he did. Scott was nice, and she was just a student to him. The end. So she carefully, not wanting him to misconstrue, stepped out of his reach. "I think the rest of the world needs some rescuing too," Katie offered as explanation.

"Right." he agreed nodding curtly, his face impassive behind his visor. With this said, they separated.


	18. Chapter 18: Remember

With this said, they separated. Scott going to help more of the younger students, and Katie going to check on Nicole.

When she got to where Nicole was still pressed against the wall, lolling limply to one side, Bobby turned to look at her. "I've tried to shock her into consciousness but its not working." he said despairingly.

Rolling her eyes, Katie gave Bobby a ' you go too easy on her' look. "Make her really cold! She'll wake up."

Bobby blushed, looking as if he hadn't thought of that, he had been too worried about Nicole to even consider using his mutation to help her. After about another minute of prodding from Katie, Bobby finally put his hands in either side of Nicole's face and took a deep breath...

Nicole's eyes snapped open, as if by magic, and she scrambled to sit up. "Wha- what t-the hell?" she gasped between chattering teeth, wanting to know what had happened since the world had gone so inconveniently black. "What happened?"

Bobby grimaced, "Sorry. It was the only way to get you to wake up." he mumbled, blue eyes filled with concern. "Magneto slammed you up against this wall... behind that." he pointed to the telephone post that was still keeping her firmly against the wall.

Nicole nodded, wriggling a bit. "Damn..." she cursed softly, "Stand back, I'm going to blast it away."

Katie and Bobby backed away cautiously, trying to get far enough away so that it wouldn't hit them. But before Nicole could even summon up enough willpower to push the blasted pole away she heard,

"Oh, I don't think so my dear. You see, I can't have you getting in my way. How about I take you for a little spin?" Magneto's voice taunted her, laughing when she squealed as the pole wrapped around Nicole even more tightly and she was lifted into the air.

"Nicole!" both Bobby and Katie called, watching helpless as Nicole was flung round and round through the air and was finally sent flying right in the direction of Logan, who had his back turned to her, continuing to savagely hack away at his opponent. At such a speed, the metal simply slipped right from around Nicole, landing a good way behind her, leaving her to hurtle right in Logan's direction.

"LOGAN!"

Logan, in the middle of dodging a swipe at his face and nearly managing to skewer his opponent (damn thing had the reflexes of a cat... obviously), was more than a little surprised by the sudden flying Nicole. But he was even more taken aback by the hidden memory stirred by her screaming his name, by the entirely complete and graphic rendition of a dream he would have been extremely glad to remember, had not it been so unfortunate the timing.

Given the current distraction of enough graphic images to make him get a hard on, had it not been so unfortunate in timing, he hardly had enough time to turn around, never mind duck. So he ended up flat on his back, with a thoroughly sweating, panting (if not somewhat confused) Nicole sprawled on top of him. If that wasn't enough to make him harder than steel at a bad time like this, he didn't know what would. "Nicole!" he hissed through gritted teeth as she squirmed uncomfortably on top of him. "Get. Off. Me!"

Before the extremely confused Nicole (who, despite said confusion, found a moment to enjoy lying on top of the sweaty, sexy Logan) could think of anything to say that had any relevance to the situation (commenting on the fact that he seemed to have been rather turned on wouldn't have gone over so well), she was grabbed roughly by the throat, thrown against yet another wall, and threatened by an extremely creepy looking, very hairy (his eyebrows putting even Logan's sideburns to shame) man.

"Scream for me," he rasped, face close in to hers. "Scream..."

She whimpered softly, hands desperately scrabbling at his iron vise -like grip that was cutting of her airway. Being pressed to the wall by one's neck doesn't exactly do much good for the lungs. He pressed on her neck with increasing pressure, smirking and baring his canines.

"Now, we can do better than that. I want to hear you scream." he growled. Black, merciless eyes glittered at her from beneath those ridiculous eyebrows. Choking on the words, she let her anger and frustration get the best at her.

"Well I- I can't v-ery well s-ccreeamm if I c-c-c-can't f-ucking b-breath!" she snapped, feeling her head spinning.

For a moment he seemed to consider her comment, backing up just enough for her to get a breath, but digging in his claws/nails in the sides of her neck instead, drawing a bit of blood. "Scream..."

The rest of this wonderful sentence was cut off as Logan, looking extremely angry, gave the man a hell of a swipe across the back with his claws, breaking bone and nearly cutting the other man in half. "For once, I'd like to hear you scream."

Logan was rewarded as the man let out a hair raising shriek of pain, releasing Nicole's throat. With a guttural moan, the cat-man flopped over to the side in a boneless heap as Nicole slid down the wall, coughing and spluttering and fighting to make up for the lack of air.

Gasping, she put a shaky hand to cover her throat and pulling it away to stare in blankly at the small pinpoints of blood on her fingertips. She could hear Logan kick the cat man roughly in the side with a small grunt. He was breathing heavily as well, and he was close enough so that she could just barely feel it stir her hair and bangs.

"You alright?" he asked gruffly. When she didn't answer, he crouched down in front of her and pushed her head to the side gently, prodding the nail marks in her neck.

"Ow!" Nicole pushed his hand away, clapping a hand protectively across her neck. "Don't touch me," she hissed, "It HURTS!". Still glaring at him reproachfully, she started to stand.

"D'you-" He began, looking at her skeptically.

"I don't need your help!" she cut him off, managing one step before her knees buckled, her throat spasmed in a coughing fit, and she fell over. Picking up her head look at him, she made a face. "Ok... maybe a little help would be nice."

He smirked at her in an I-told-you-so, face so very close to hers... Without any outward sign of effort, he hoisted her onto her feet. Taking one of her arms, he wrapped it around his shoulder and he wrapped an arm around her waist. Though he mentally denied it, a part of him allowed himself to enjoy the feeling of splaying his hand flat across her lower belly.

Nicole tried to suppress a shiver when she realized that the warmth of his hand penetrated the thick layer of leather, radiating heat into her already hot skin. But it was a different heat, heat that sent shivers up and down her spine and set the butterflies in her stomach aflutter. "Where are we going?" she asked, more to distract herself from his hands than out of curiosity. She looked up at him, and saw that he was eyeing her in a curious way.

"It doesn't matter. How are you feeling?" he muttered gruffly, looking away and off into the distance.

"Don't change the subject. I feel fine." Nicole snapped, impatiently.

He turned back to her, flashing a knee-buckling grin. "Then why are your knees shaking like jell-o?" he teased, voice a light purr. Blushing, she spared him a glare before looking away.

"Shut up. Where are you taking me?" she growled, clenching her teeth when he laughed. God he was so infuriating. Was it really that hard to give her a straight answer?

"The sim should be over soon anyway. I don't think Scott will mind if I steal you for the last couple of minutes to get you some bandages for those nail marks."

"Since when do you care?!"

He decided not to answer that question, merely continuing to grin at her. He'd been so very angry when Sabertooth had decided to attack Nicole instead, and it had almost scared him. Where there... feelings there? Could there be? Something other than lust (now that he was finally admitting to himself that he did want her. and very badly at that)? No one paid them any attention, the students were far too busy fighting for their lives (or cowering in fear as someone else fought for their life) and the other mutants were too busy with the students.

"Dammit, where did he put it?" Logan mumbled to himself, poking with his free hand at what (seemed like) normal empty air.

Staring up at Logan, Nicole couldn't help but blurt, " Have you got some screws loose or something?! You're clawing at nothing but thin-" the rest of her sentence was put on hold as her jaw dropped. A seemingly normal stretch of what appeared to be thin air, fell open like a door. She couldn't help but blush when he laughed at her while helping her hobble through into the long metal hallway.

"I'm not as stupid as you think I am." he laughed down at her as they made their way down the hallway.

"Could have fooled me.." Nicole mumbled under her breath.

- - -

Katie was more than a little happy for her friend as she watched Logan put an arm around Nicole's waist, though she was just as confused as Nicole had been as to where the hell he was going.

Bobby seemed to be very determinedly attending to some other task, and Katie couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for him. He simply had no chance, not against someone like Logan. But her mood, and this welcome brief lull from the action, was spoiled as something large and feathery slammed into her side, knocking her some ten feet to the left, and the spot where she was standing was enveloped in a ball of flame.

"Sorry about that," Arch murmured, half-lying on her. Katie sighed in frustration. _God, couldn't she rescue herself for once? And if she did have to be thrown places, couldn't it be by someone else (like Scott? her mind interrupted)?_

The rest of the sim went on with the usual ridiculous amount of chaos. How were the students supposed to learn how to defend themselves if half of them were doing the work, and the rest of them were cowering behind rubble and large pieces of rock?

Katie sighed, as the scene faded and left them all standing, rather winded and full of scratches and puncture marks, in the plain metal room. Logan and Nicole's absence seemed to go unnoticed by many, except for those who had seen them leave, Katie and Bobby.

Bobby didn't look happy, not happy at all. "Where do you think he took her?" he asked, failing to mask the jealousy that burned brightly in his light blue eyes.

Katie shrugged as gently as she could, trying to keep the pity out of her eyes. "Maybe she got hurt, and he was helping her off to get whatever it was attended to? I mean, she was kind of thrown around a lot... But I'm sure it can't be anything too serious." She smiled reassuringly at him, patting him on the shoulder. "She'll be at dinner, bragging about whatever it was and how much it hurt, showing off her scars... just you wait." _Oh, just give up now, _she thought._ It's hopeless. _


	19. Chapter 19: Remedy

Meanwhile, silence had fallen comfortably upon Logan and Nicole's shoulders as he helped her down the metal hallway towards the medical lab. Though her legs were fine, and she had long since gotten a sudden cough attack, Nicole allowed him to do so without complaint. After a few minutes of unbearable silence, Nicole glanced up at Logan, who was determinedly not looking at her. "So..." she began, but he cut her off,

"Here we are. Let's hope that these geeks didn't assume that they were too cool for band-aids." They came to a halt in front of a mechanical door, which whooshed open for them. Once inside, Logan grabbed Nicole around the waist without warning, causing her to squeak, and lifted her onto an examining table. While he had his back to her, rummaging in random drawers, he said "You're going to have to unzip your suit a little so I can get at your neck."

Nicole complied, a bit uncomfortably. Undressing, however minimally, in Logan's presence was... interesting. She unzipped the throat some few inches, trying not to bare too much of herself, not wanting him to make any comments...

Logan made a noise of triumph, digging out a battered-looking box of Band-Aids and a bottle of cleanser. "Aha!"

At a second glance, Nicole snatched up the Band-Aid box. "Batman band-aids?" She laughed.

Logan gave her a funny look, "What?"

"They're Batman band-aids" she repeated, pulling one out and waving it in Logan's face. For a moment nothing happened, but before she knew what she was doing, a batman Band-Aid and somehow magically stuck itself onto Logan's cheek. She couldn't help but giggle maniacally. Really where was a camera when you need one? Logan looked stony faced. "Cute." he commented dryly, making a face as he peeled it off and tossed it aside. Nicole stuck her tongue out at him. It seemed like the appropriate thing to do. She felt like a little kid at the doctors, being rewarded with a pretty band-aid for her troubles.

He grabbed a handful (a rather large handful) of cotton balls, soaking one in the cleaning solution. "Hold still," he cautioned, grabbing hold of her collarbone with one hand and dabbing at the puncture marks with the other.

"Oww!" Nicole moaned. "That stings!" She would have wanted to jerk out of his hold, but he was much too strong for that. Whimpering in pain, Nicole wriggled when he dabbed on the next slightly deeper puncture.

"Quit squirming!" he growled, making her tilt her head more to the side so that the vertebrae in her neck popped. But she refused to listen. It hurt dammit! "Nicole! Stop! Do I have to sit on you to make you stay still?!" he growled.

Growling in her throat, she glared at him, allowing him to continue, and gritting her teeth as to not make any noise as he continued to clean her wounds. When he was finished torturing her with the confounded cleanser she sighed and fixed him with a glare. "I'd have loved to see you try and sit-ahh! What the hell?!" she ended with a squeal.

Logan was bending close over her blowing gently on the wounds, each hand planted on either side of her thighs, trapping her. She shivered as goose bumps erupted all over. "Stoppit!" she squealed, pushing him away finally, giving in to involuntary shivers. "God... what the hell Logan?!"

"The Band-Aids won't stick if you're wet," he replied, leaving the double entendre hanging.

She made a face at him. "Couldn't you just wait for it to dry..?" she protested weakly, having enjoyed having him so close to her far too much... His mouth had been some two or three inches from her own more than once. Thinking briefly of the dream, she shivered again as he pulled out a selection of Batman Band-Aids. He'd touched her more times in the last hour than he had ever, and it was killing her.

By now Logan was mentally kicking himself as he gently arranged the Band-Aids over the nail marks. He'd caught a whiff of that same scent that her skin gave off that night in the club, despite the acrid smell of the cleanser, that soft, sweet, musky smell that he'd detected beneath the sheen of sweat and blood. And it he had to all but bite his lip to the point of bleeding to keep from attempting to nibble on her ear or perhaps taste an undamaged stretch of skin on her neck..? Growling in frustration as two Band-Aids got stuck together, he cursed himself. This was getting ridiculous. She was a student, and he was a sort of teacher. If Xavier even caught a whiff of what Logan's thoughts had been going round in circles about since he'd remembered his dream, he'd be on is ass out in the street faster than you could say 'Pervert'.

Nicole watched him fight with the adhesive-y bits on the Band-Aids, eyes sliding across his face, shoulders, and arms... This really was ridiculous, wasn't it? Even if he didn't hate her (he'd much too nice to her for loathing), he was like this with everyone. As much as she had enjoyed her dream... well, that was the problem, wasn't it? She'd enjoyed that dream far too much. And there was still the risk that he may have had the same dream... She shivered a bit, as unnoticeably as possible. If he had, she didn't want to know what he'd thought of it... Or worse, someone else could have had the same dream. Like Xavier. She shivered again. Hopefully not. Then she would be in BIG trouble. Slightly annoyed with Logan's behavior, she snatched the two Band-Aids from him and chucked them across the room.

"God..." she sighed, "It would've saved you energy if you had just taken out two more Band-Aids." she growled, snatching up two more Band-Aids and unwrapping them.

Raising an eyebrow, Logan took the Band-Aids and situated them on her neck. "Saving energy for what, may I ask?" he inquired, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Agh... It's impossible to talk to you without going around in circles."

"Since when do you bother to talk to me? Its usually just 'Asshole', and insults." He replied, finishing sticking on her last Band-Aid. Stepping back to get a good look at his work, he couldn't suppress a chuckle. She looked rather funny, with some ten black Batman Band-Aids stuck all over her neck like some new necklace fad.

Glaring at him, she crossed her arms over her chest. "What's so funny?" she demanded crossly.

"You look like a walking billboard for Batman Begins" he chuckled, mimicking her just to wind her up. One corner of her mouth twitched upward, as though half of her didn't know whether to laugh at his comment or to be pissed.

"You know, I wouldn't insult you half as much if you didn't start it first." she said at last, deciding to ignore his batman comment

."I do not." he replied, indignantly.

"You do too!" Nicole protested.

"I do NOT!" he countered, voice rising a little, looking at her as innocently as was possible (this being rather difficult, given his general sketchiness).

"You. Do. TOO!" She replied louder. Apparently neither of them noticing how very juvenile they sounded (and most people would have expected more from someone as mature as Nicole).

While taking a deep (not so) calming breath, Logan said "I do not." in a final tone.

Groaning and covering her face, Nicole flopped backwards to lie on the examining table. Her head hung off and so did her legs. "Uhhngg... I hate you..." she moaned through her hands. Which wasn't at all true, but it was something to say. "I hate you so muuuuuchhhh..." she whined.

Smirking, Logan leaned backwards onto a counter. I can live with that." He laughed. It was sort of cute the way she had herself flopped over the table, face turning red while the blood rushed into it.

Neither of them noticed that Nicole was slipping, so when she fell head first onto the hard tile floor Logan jumped, the table was now empty and he had to peer over the side to see Nicole, laughing hysterically. "Oh my god! haha! That was fun." she gasped through giggles.

Logan looked at her, unable not to grin at how utterly adorable she was acting. "Am I going to need to get the Band-Aids out again?" he asked, laughing. She was just too cute sometimes (when she wasn't trying to kill him. Though she did look fairly cute mad...)

Through another fit of uncontrollable giggles, she gasped, "No no. A straight jacket would be nice though!" she dissolved into another fit of giggles.

Logan laughed. "Yes it would. Unfortunately we're fresh out. Can I get you something else?" he chuckled. Really, this was utter silliness. Why was he enjoying it so much? Hadn't he, Logan, credited himself for being determinedly aloof and detached? And here he was laughing with a some 15-16 year old girl who was rolling on the floor in laughing like maniac.

She was about to answer with something else cutely ridiculous when there was a rather impatient knocking at the door (which had somehow closed, they really hadn't been paying much attention).

"It's nice that you're having fun in there, but I've got someone bleeding all over the floor out here." It was Scott, and he didn't sound like he was enjoying himself much.

Quickly, Logan took the Band-Aids and cleanser and stuffed them into a random drawer and gave Nicole a look that told her, ' get up, or questions will be asked.' She got up, dusting off her suit and went to open the door for Scott.

Grimacing, Scott nodded his appreciation at Nicole, dragging in a pale younger student who was clutching his side tightly. Blood oozed from between his clutching fingers.

Feeling queasy, Nicole dashed out of the room with an uttered, "Oh my god."

Scott watched the nauseous Nicole run off, before glaring at Logan. "Either help me or go away." Logan decided that "going away" sounded a bit more preferable.


	20. Chapter 20: Feel Good Inc

Katie jumped up as Nicole stumbled in the door to the room, massively curious as to just what had gone on... "Nicole, you alright? You look like you might be sick."

Nicole shook with a dry heave, bile turning in her stomach. "I just might be." she choked.

Standing up, Katie guided Nicole to her bed and let her friend collapse onto it on her back, her head flopping to the side while she breathed slowly in, and out; in, and out. "Colie... what happened?" Katie murmured softly, sitting down on the bed and anxiously watching her friend.

Nicole moaned, "Ugh... Scott brought in this kid from the simulation... blood... everywhere..."

Katie made a noise of sympathy. "Oh, poor kid. Hope he's alright." She let a perfunctory silence pass. "But what happened Nicole?" She asked at last, extremely curious as to what had gone on in the convoluted relationship between Nicole and Logan. "Where did you go? He looked like he was enjoying touching you..."

Nicole sat up slowly as to not disturb her sensitive stomach, glaring at Katie. "Shut up... He took me to the med lab and patched me up." she said pulling down he collar of her suit to show Katie the assortment of batman Band-Aids.

Confused, Katie prodded a few of the bandages curiously. "But what happened to your neck?" she mused.

Nicole shrugged, "That big cat man slammed me up against a wall by the throat and dug his gross nails into me." she explained, running her fingers lightly over the patchwork of Band-Aids. She shivered remembering when Logan blew on her neck.

"But... what did you think about it all?" Katie prodded, knowing about Nicole's less than casual attraction to the "teacher".

Nicole tried to fluff it off. "Well, it was nice of him to bother but I would have been fine on my own."

Katie sighed. "Nicole, whatever. Keep your feelings to yourself if you want." Nicole tried to be all ambiguous, but she was really so very transparent.

Nicole snorted in disbelief. "Really Katie, do you think that if I told him he'd even believe me? Oh, I can see it now. 'Logan I'm in love with you.' 'Yeah, ok kid. And I'm the pope.'" Nicole snapped, getting up and rummaging through her drawers, more for the need of doing something not because she was looking for anything in particular.

Katie sighed, shaking her head. "At least you'll have gotten it out into the open. Then you could both deal with it." she mumbled, watching Nicole's progress as she ransacked her own drawer.

Nicole finally picked out some comfortable clothes, jeans, a charcoal shirt that read Girl Scout with Attitude in green and a pair of bright green socks, and practically jumped into them. She laughed. "Does Logan look like the type to get mixed up with feelings? He'd rather pay a whore for sex than really get into a relationship for chrissake!"

Katie rolled her eyes. "For all you know, he just hasn't had the time for a relationship. And I'm sure there are plenty of men who visit whores and are still capable of having a relationship..."

Nicole just sighed. "Katie, can't you just drop it? I told you because I felt you'd listen, not because I wanted a lecture! And if you haven't noticed, I'm a student, and freaking underage, so even if he wanted a relationship I couldn't have one!"

Katie sighed softly, shaking her head. "But..." she attempted but Nicole cut her to the quick.

"But? There is no 'but' Katie! Student/Teacher relationships BAD." Nicole hissed, her face took on an odd expression between sadness and anger.

Katie smiled weakly, "I would think that if it was love, nothing would matter." she mumbled.

Closing her eyes tightly, Nicole groaned. "You don't understand what kind of person Logan is Katie! Even if it were possible, for me it would be love for him it would just be physical." she mumbled softly, plunking down next to Katie on her bed and bumped shoulders affectionately as if to blunt the sharp edge of her verbal assault.

"You don't know what kind of person Logan is either Colie. You're too busy reading a book by its cover."

Nicole sighed. "But I've never seen him show any emotions at all... and can you really picture Logan saying 'I love you'?"

Katie sighed as well, giving her friend a hug. "I'm sure he's perfectly capable of love, Nicole. He's probably just very, very good at hiding his emotions. I mean, someone like him would be laughed at if he, you know, showed any... but I'm positive you'd find them, if you looked deeply enough."

Nicole shrugged, looking away. "I'm sort of afraid of what I'll find. I think Logan had the same dream that I did last night. I kept getting very aroused brainwaves from him before this... wall just sort of flew up. It's like he can... turn his emotions off." she mumbled, her brows were knit together with confusion. "Even if I tried to get... well beyond this 'I hate you' thing... that wall is still there. A metal wall, slippery and impossible to climb." she whispered.

Katie patted Nicole on the back, keeping her friend locked in the hug. "It's ok Nicole... I'm sure, if you tried, you could get past that wall." There was a nice, friendly silence, and Katie finally let go, deciding that Nicole's emotional state had recovered enough. "Hey guess what? I got another note!" she squeaked happily, having wanted to tell Nicole for quite some time. Besides, it was a good distraction

"Ooooh, what did your mystery lover have to say?" Nicole teased a little too over brightly for someone who previously couldn't have cared less about Katie's 'stupid love letters', poking Katie in the ribs.

Katie gave her a calculating look before fishing the note from her bag and letting her friend read it. When Nicole finished reading it she handed it back to Katie, smirking. "Well. He certainly has made it clear that he wants in your pants. He wants in your pants bad." she laughed.

Katie blushed, "Well at least he was sweet about it. Instead of saying rawr I want to fuck you."

Nicole rolled her eyes. "I don't see why you don't find this creepy... I mean, you have no idea who this guy is, and he's talking about wanting to fuck you in front of everyone. You might want to start being really careful walking around alone..."

Katie laughed a bit. "I'm not worried... he's too sweet to actually try something."

Nicole cocked a brow. "They only seem sweet in the beginning." she stated blankly, "Then they get ugly."

Rolling her eyes, Katie sighed and smiled dreamily. "He's not like that. He's sweet, intelligent, kind, and the way he writes makes me tremble at the knees." she mumbled.

Nicole snorted, "C'mon... it's not like that in the real world... all fancy wording and romantics like in the romance novels..." Nicole began but Katie cut her off.

"It can be like that if it's the right pairing." She snapped.

Laughing slightly, Nicole held her hands up in defeat. "Fine! Don't shoot! I surrender."

Katie rolled her eyes at Nicole with a giggle, and flopped down to lie on her bed, to wonder who her mysterious letter-writer really was...

- - -

Scott was not having such a great afternoon. His sim had been something of a disaster, and they'd nearly lost one poor kid after 'Magneto' had skewered him with shrapnel. The problem was that over half the students were utterly hopeless, either way too young or simply no good under fire. And the ones who were had their hands full trying to keep everyone else safe, instead of learning to work as their own team. He really needed to ask Xavier if he could take a group of those older kids and work with them on their own...

He sighed again, kicking idly at the legs of his desk. But that wouldn't be any good for his mental health, would it? Another period with much to close to her...

Groaning in frustration, Scott shuffled through some papers that he was supposed to be grading, not really paying much attention. I mean, he already had two periods with her, in the Danger Room and in Mathematics, Adding another period in which he had to endure temptation would probably be the last straw. However, some of those students needed this extra period. They needed to understand the importance of working together as a team.

Sighing, he stacked up the papers neatly, giving it up as a bad job and considering doing them later. He was more than certain that more than half of the class would appreciate not receiving their horrible test grades back.

But it wasn't like he had anything else to do during this free time... besides brood that was. And he was already doing enough of that, alright.

Putting his head in one hand, he sighed yet again. Things just really weren't working out right now, were they? No one seemed to pay any attention in his classes, and he'd developed an obsession (because, truthfully, that was what it was) for a student of all people.


	21. Chapter 21: Perfect Situation

Logan sighed as he flicked through the channels on the huge plasma screen TV in the rec room. Why was it that when he actually had time to himself to do what he wanted, he couldn't find anything to do? He'd rather be fixing something than sitting on his ass doing nothing during his spare time.

The Rec Room was as usual, full of kids laughing and chatting it up while they played table tennis, air hockey, and mortal combat, et cetera. The kids typically used the Rec room during the free period before dinner to unwind before having to do homework. Staff usually retreated to their offices to correct papers. But Logan? No. He had no papers to correct. Even if he did, he wouldn't. So here he was, stuck on the couch, amidst dozens of hormonal teenagers, flicking through the channels.

Nicole opened the door to the Rec Room, looking around for any of her friends. Bobby was locked in a full-contact, hardcore game of air hockey with Pyro, and no one else was free. Shrugging to herself, she plopped down on the couch to watch some TV instead. Logan had finally found something halfway interesting, and had put the remote down for a moment... when she grabbed it, and started her own channel flipping.

With a faint growl, Logan turned to look at Nicole in a threatening manner. Nicole however, wasn't giving him the time of day. Where'd that cute, giggling, adorable Nicole go? Now he was stuck with annoying, remote stealing, and channel flipping Nicole.

Pausing in her flipping, Nicole chanced a glance up at him. "Oh. I'm sorry. Where you watching something?" She challenged, looking highly amused with a small smirk on her lips.

This was obviously a ploy to wind him up. "Yes. I was." He said, struggling to sound completely calm.

The corners of her mouth kicked up. "Too bad."

He frowned at her, not particularly amused. Was she schizophrenic or something? Sometimes she hated him, sometimes she acted like he really wasn't all that bad, and then there were the times when she did her best to provoke him. Like now. "Nicole, give me the remote. Please." The 'please' was stuck on the end as an afterthought, and was rather more threatening than any 'please' had any right to be.

Pausing, she considered it for a split second. Wow, Logan could say please with out blowing up. Shocker. "Uuuhmm... No." she said, readjusting her grip on the remote, just incase he felt like wresting it from her. How long could this go on with out him blowing up? That was the purpose of her taunting of course. Katie had said to look deeeep in Logan to find the emotions. So far, the only emotion she got was agitation. Then again, having the remote stolen from you when you are watching something that is sort of interesting doesn't exactly make you want to jump a girl's bones for it. More like put her in her place and go back to your channel.

Logan sighed a bit, wondering why she was going through all this trouble to get his irritated. Did she enjoy seeing him angry? What was her problem, anyway? He'd liked the cute, giggly Nicole of earlier a great deal better. 'That'Nicole knew her place... (_Under him_). "Give it to me, or I'll take it."

"Go ahead and try." she challenged, a brow raising. She didn't really care about the TV any more. She didn't really think he wanted it all that much either. This was a power issue. He was the alpha male, always had been, and now he was being challenged by a bitch. "If you wanted it that badly, you would have had it by now." she commented, squirming mentally at the double meaning that she had subconsciously put into that statement.

Something in his eyes flashed. He'd understood the double meaning. Reaching forward, he grabbed it. And she let him.

Smirking at his look of utter bewilderment, Nicole shrugged. "I would have given it to you eventually anyways. You shouldn't worry about hurting me. I can take it. I'm a big girl." she laughed, grinning broadly.

Bobby, looking up from his game, watched in a kind of jealous fascination as Logan leaned in really close to Nicole. Such was his distraction that he didn't notice when Pyro scored on him, though the loud cheer broke the spell. "Oh, whatever." Bobby muttered, uncharacteristically darkly, giving his place to someone else. Sitting down on the couch between Nicole and Logan, he put an arm around Nicole's shoulders with a possessive air. "Hey, Nicole," He offered as greeting, back to the 'teacher'.

A bit miffed, Logan gave the Ice-cube or whatever he called himself... a look while his back was turned. Who did he think he was anyway? Coming and interrupting his and Nicole's private space. It was obvious that the kid was jealous. Jealous of what, he thought bitterly, he would never know, given the fact that student and 'responsible' adult relationships were illegal. Shrugging, Logan got up off of the couch to sit on a more private piece of furniture. One that didn't have two hormonal teenagers who didn't know _what_ the hell they wanted, on it.

As Logan left, Bobby seemed to relax a bit more. "So, how are you? I heard that you hurt your neck... I saw him escort you out and..." he ended with a shrug and a hostile glance in Logan's direction.

Nicole looked at Bobby, more than a little confused. Why was he acting all hostile? Its not like she and Logan had been doing anything... they hadn't even been talking. "He was just getting me some Band-Aids for my neck, that's all." She replied, looking at him questioningly. Was Bobby jealous? If he was, what was he jealous of? She didn't have any sort of relationship with Logan, couldn't, and had talked to him civilly maybe twice ever.

Meanwhile, Logan was trying to attempt to give them an inch of privacy by ignoring their conversation (as the only vacant seat had been unfortunately very close by) so naturally, he could hear every word. Not that enhanced hearing was a pain in the ass or anything but, it would be nice if he could be left in peace with out over hearing more than 12 whispered conversations at once. But he obviously couldn't deny the savage pleasure in the pit of his stomach that they were discussing himself, and at the fact that she described their little Band-aid-venture as 'just getting some Band-aids.' Then again, it wouldn't exactly be wise to mention the fact that Logan blew on her neck (which most of the time would have been saved while trying to sexually arouse someone... older and more mature.) in front of an obviously jealous Ice Cube.

"Why do you talk to someone you can't stand?" He asked, almost suspiciously. "You never talk to me." Bobby's tone was hurtful, hurting, and he was making Nicole squirm with prolonged eye contact. "You never come and sit with me, but you sit with him?"

Nicole tried to think of something to say to excuse herself. "Bobby, why are you doing this?" She was shrinking back some, confused as hell.

"Because I love you!" Before Nicole had a chance to react at all his hand was at the back of her neck, pulling her mouth in to meet his.

His mouth was insistent, yet she could feel him holding back. It was odd, kissing Bobby. His lips were warm and his breath cold. Not at all an unpleasant combination, but odd nonetheless. Shivering not from cold, she moaned softly when his tongue swept over her bottom lip. This was nice... involuntarily; her hands slipped up over his shoulders and twisted in the soft blond curls at the nape of Bobby's neck. When he parted from her, she could barely catch her breath and everything had a hard time coming back into focus.

"Me next!" Pyro called teasingly, as a chorus of wolf whistles and catcalls rose up.

Logan felt his stomach twist unpleasantly as he watched Ice Cube kiss Nicole... the most irrational urge to jump up off his chair and drag him off seized him, and he determinedly squashed it. That, or shouting out "MINE" like he wanted, would not help the situation any. Looking away as casually as possible, he tried to put on a front of unconcern.

When they finally pulled away, after what seemed like hours and hours... and hours of mental torture...The way Nicole looked well... that was a different story all together. It sent shivers down his spine to see her like that; lips full, swollen, pink, and moist, her eyes misted over and unfocused. I wonder. I wonder if she would look like that if I... Logan's stomach did a funny jump. Of course she would. Perhaps even more so if it were Logan. Ice Cube was only what-16? Barely enough experience to make her tremble at the knees.

Bobby leaned back, ignoring the calls. He was paying much too much attention to Nicole's reaction. It meant so much to him, that he'd finally kissed her, and it would probably drive him over the edge if she looked disgusted. But... oh, thank god, she didn't. Instead she looked up at him, eyes all wide and beautiful, and smiled. And what a pretty smile she had...

Still smiling, she exhaled and Bobby could see the small puff of breath hover in the air. She laughed softly, "Never associated being able to see my breath with kissing before." she mumbled, those wide brown eyes flicking away from in shyly while she tucked a loose lock of hair behind her ear, the other hand lifted to cover her mouth.

Relieved, Bobby couldn't keep the broad grin off of his face while sliding a slightly triumphant glance in Logan's direction. Ha. Mine. Raising a brow, Logan mockingly pretended to applaud.

Before anyone else had time to make any more comments about the impromptu kiss, but after Nicole had watched Bobby flaunt his 'victory' in Logan's face, the bell for dinner rang. Most of the other students raced for the door, and a few others (Nicole and Logan for one) hung back to avoid being trampled in the stampede. "I'll save you a seat," Bobby had commented at her, with a slightly possessive air and a mental reassurance to himself that he'd find one far, far away from Logan, before joining the crowd.

Nicole just nodded after him, a bit unsure of what to say.

After the room cleared, the last of the stragglers got up and made their way out, leaving Nicole (and Logan) alone. Nicole felt... strange. Weren't you supposed to feel giddy and good after you've been kissed? All she felt was confused. Bobby's kiss was nice but... there was something missing that she just couldn't put her finger on. Then again, it's not like she had anyone else's kissing technique to compare it to. _You wish that you did though, right? Perhaps... Logan? _mocked one of her nastier inner voices. Feeling slightly put out, Nicole got up, but didn't leave the room. Even if she did want Logan to kiss her, it wasn't as if he could. Or would want to. Her stomach turned, suddenly she didn't really feel like eating..., but Bobby was waiting for her. She bit her lip, moving around the couch to examine the empty room. However, the room wasn't as empty as she had thought it had been.

"For someone who's just been kissed, you don't look very happy." Logan drawled from his armchair. He stretched, long legs unfurling and arms rising skyward, and then stood. There was something strange in the look that Logan fixed Nicole with. Something that made his slightly narrowed, speculating eyes dark, and smoldering.

"W-what do you mean?!" Nicole snapped waspishly, surprising herself at how harsh she sounded. Why was he looking at her like that?

"Was it your first kiss?" He asked, stepping a few very deliberate paces closer to her, continuing to fix her with that dark, smoldering stare. That stare... Nicole felt her knees going a bit weak, the way they never did when Bobby looked at her. "Because you don't look like you enjoyed it much." He continued.

Trying to remain calm, Nicole attempted to pull herself together, but failed miserably. "What's it to you if it was my first kiss?" she challenged, furrowing her brows and feeling the familiar pang of annoyance and irritation that Logan caused, rise within the several new, wild emotions that were whirling inside of her. Her heart was racing and her blood was pounding heavily in her ears, breathing was near impossible. Her heart beat so hard and loud that she was beginning to wonder if Logan was able to hear it. He undoubtedly could, damn those heightened senses.

Logan raised a brow, the corners of his mouth kicking up into that irritating, sexy smile that at times made Nicole want to either punch off of him, or kiss off of him. Either seemed very desirable at the moment. "Nothing! Nothing. It's just… you know, I would have thought that one's first kiss would be... ah... more enjoyable than you're playing it out to be." He said laughingly, his voice a light purr above Nicole's pounding heart.

He continued to advance, but his nearness was made all the more noticeable to Nicole when she squeaked, "I did! I did..." she faltered, looking up at him. When did he get so close? She could almost feel the heat that his body emanated. "Enjoy it." She breathed, gulping, and sucking in her bottom lip nervously, attempting to shrink back against the wall that she must have backed into at some point in the conversation that had slipped her mind.

He chuckled, a deep, soft sound that made Nicole's knees quake even more violently. He leaned down and in so close that she could feel his breath, hot, and feather light, stir her bangs and bathe her face in delicious warmth. "Liar."

Nicole, completely blindsided by the confusing medley of emotions, opened her mouth to say something... and found she didn't have to. Logan reached down to her, hand at the back of her neck before she'd realized it had moved, mouth on hers. Nicole's muffled squeak of surprise changed to a confused half-moan as fireworks exploded behind her eyes, his heat blazing into her.

His kiss was fierce, burning, and aggressive. Nicole couldn't help but shiver. Logan's hands didn't seem to want to keep still; one running up and down her back, kneading and rubbing, and the other ran through her hair and slid to stroke the side of her face, while his mouth demanded that she respond. She had been so shocked; she'd hardly had enough time to even think of responding to his touch. She hadn't even thought of fighting him off... She melted, her muscles relaxing to the extent of becoming completely limp in his arms, kissing back and clinging to him desperately.

Her reaction only encouraged him, as he pressed in deeper and she opened her mouth to him. Nicole couldn't help but moan again, sending vibrations that reverberated throughout. Her length was pressed against him, against the wall, and shivers danced up and down her, in a sort of ecstasy at this impossible intimate contact... But, almost as suddenly as he had started the kiss (oh, but what a kiss it was!) he ended it, pausing for brief, triumphant moment to see the redder, more swollen contours of that lovely, delicious mouth, and the abject pleasure and arousal on her face before leaving her there, limply propped against the wall, utterly blown away.

Moaning and trembling, Nicole struggled to regain strength in her limbs. She felt like her limbs were made of jell-o. With a soft whimper, she braced herself against the wall, a shaking hand rising to inspect her swollen lips. Her lips tingled pleasantly, and she licked them, still tasting him on her lips. Cigar tobacco, not at all unpleasant tasting, despite the nasty fumes that it gave off when lit. She could still feel his hands... as if they were still there, running through her hair (and messing it up, but I don't think she minded much) and that brief moment when that hand... the hand that had been running up and down her back slipped beneath her shirt, whether by accident or no. Sparks had jumped up her spine. How could she ever face Bobby after that?

- - -

Logan sat at his usual seat, trying to act as normal as possible... but simply unable to get the thought of her out of his head, the taste of her, the feel of her... Trying to resist the urge to keep licking his lips, he looked around, trying to resist the equally strong urge to glare triumphantly at Ice Cube. _He might have been her first... but I was definitely the best,_ he thought to himself, smugly.

But, Oh god, she had been so...perfect. Soft, and sweet (oh, so sweet!) and very responsive. Every soft moan, sigh, or whimpering noise that she emitted continued to echo in his ears deliciously. He could still feel her hands hesitantly whispering over his shoulders, chest, and lower back, clutching at his shirt and making bunches of it in her hands that he had to straighten before entering the dinning hall. It had been as close to his dream as one could get. He shuddered pleasantly, struggling to keep his cool when Nicole finally entered the dinning hall some ten minutes later, biting her lower lip to make it less obvious that it was still swollen.

Bobby looked at her questioningly, wondering why she was late and offered her the seat he had been saving so loyally beside him (having to chase off some several other girls, who had wanted to sit next to him). "Nicole, you alright?" he asked, throwing an arm faux-casually across her shoulders, still not sure if he had "won" the imaginary "battle" for possession of her affections in the Rec Room...

Nicole nodded, "Mmhmm. Fine, Bobby." she mumbled softly, in a far away, airy voice. For good measure, she added a smile, which turned out to be a bit too happy for her taste, given the circumstances.

"You sure?" he mumbled, uncertainly, thrown off by her bright smile. Did he... win?

She nodded again, "Yeah... just... still a little breathless." which was partly true, but not from Bobby.

Logan, as much as he tried to keep it discreet, enjoyed a brief moment of triumph. _Oh, Ice Cube, you really think your wimpy little kiss has kept her breathless for that long? If you only knew..._

He was interrupted by a hand waving in his face, and an extremely un-amused Scott repeating for the sixth or seventh time, "Logan! The SALT please?"

Katie, from a vantage point some half the table away from Nicole, tried in vain to get her friend's attention. What had happened, to make her friend look all funny? Would she really have to wait until after dinner to find out? The idea seemed extremely irritating to Katie, who wasn't having the best evening. She'd been cornered by Arch, and was now sitting (fairly extremely) bored beside him, feeling lower than low as she found herself wishing the warm arm around her waist was someone else's... At least Nicole's problems were simple!

With an irritated grunt, Logan snatched up the nearest shaker and thrust it into Cyclops's expectant, outstretched hand. He then turned back to attempt to listen to Nicole's and Ice Cube's conversation. He was apparently satisfied with her answer, and they were talking civilly about the Boston Red Sox and grinning about their victory against the Yankees. Or at least, Ice Cube was grinning and talking about it, and Nicole merely smiling and nodding, clearly not listening to a word he was saying.

"LOGAN!" Scott shouted him back to paying attention, "If I had wanted pepper I would have asked for it. The SALT please."

"Jeez One-eye, don't get your panties in a twist!"


	22. Chapter 22: Ask The Lonely

Katie, lying on her bed, watching Nicole intently, giggled. "Serious?" Nicole nodded back, and Katie jumped up and hugged her friend. "That's great..." she paused suddenly. "All it was was just a kiss, right?" She asked, suspiciously.

Nicole nodded. "Yes... why?" Nicole questioned back, looking at her friend oddly.

"Because it's obvious he's got some sort of massive lust for you, and I was just checking to make sure he didn't decide that your virginity was fair game too..."

Blushing, Nicole launched a pillow in Katie's general direction. It missed. "eeeeeeeeew! Katieee!!!" She squealed, snatching up another pillow and burying her face into it.

Katie grinned and shrugged, "Hey, it's not like you're adverse to the idea... I mean dreams are usually you're subconscious trying to get your attention." she laughed, watching Nicole peek her face over the big squishy pillow.

Nicole looked thoughtful. "You know, come to think of it. I'm sort of surprised that he didn't try and get into my pants. I mean... he had me right where he wanted me... He was very close... He did slip his hands underneath my shirt... but that's as far as it went before he just... left..." she trailed off, mumbling in a sort of disappointed manner.

Katie snorted. "That's because if he knew that if he left you wanting more, that you would be all the more willing the next time..." she teased.

Nicole scowled, "Who says there's going to be a next time? For all I know, he just hasn't had a good shag in a few days and needed to vent some of his frustration on someone. If I wasn't the only one left in the room he would have gone and cornered some other girl... or went out and gotten another whore." Nicole growled bitterly, all of her confusion pouring out into one out burst.

Katie looked at Nicole sympathetically. "Nicole, if it was just frustration he wouldn't have stopped... or he would have found someone easier. There has to be at least ten girls in that ridiculous fan-club thing more than willing to lay him for free..." Katie paused for another moment, thinking. "You know, I think he might actually have some sort of conscience... or at least be really, really afraid of being bagged and losing his job." she amended.

Nicole snorted. "What job? All he does is loaf around until someone tells him that something needs to be fixed, some class needs a substitute, or Scott needs his help in the Danger Room period." she mumbled, picking miserably at her pillow and wishing that her life were simple. Like Katie's. "Besides," she continued, staring up at the curtains of her bed idly, "Xavier likes him. Despite his total lack of common courtesy."

"Xavier is also a semi-friend to Magneto, but you don't see him still sitting around. Xavier draws the line somewhere... and Logan is afraid of crossing it, I think."

Nicole just sighed in response, really not sure what was going on in this convoluted non-relationship.

"Well, Nicole, my professional opinion would be that he really does have some sort of feeling for you, and is scared to act on it, but if I'm wrong I don't think you need worry as long as you stay away from his room in the middle of the night." Katie grinned. "Though we know how hard that would be..."

"Getting harder and harder." Nicole laughed, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. "I'm sort of curious though." she shrugged, "I've never been in a boy's room. Not even Bobby's."

Katie laughed, snuggling down into her blankets and pillows. "Correction, a man's room. Because obviously, a grown man wouldn't have the same things that Bobby, a boy, would have in his room. And would have much more mature things... like..." she faltered.

"Like condoms?" They both burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"No, I bet Bobby has those too..." Katie managed before dissolving into more giggles.

"For What?" Nicole choked out, looking a bit confused.

"You. He obviously wants to eventually get into your pants..." Katie ruined what was an entirely serious comment. "I mean, who wouldn't want to?" she added, wiggling her eyebrows at Nicole.

Nicole snorted. "Oh yes. I'm sure you've just been itching to get into my pants for some time now." she commented, laughing.

Rolling her eyes, Katie shook her head. "Oh yes Nicole. I want you. I need you. Oh baby, Oh baby."

They dissolved into even more giggles, getting so loud that there came a knock at their door. "Simmer down! Some of us are trying to sleep!" boomed Logan's voice.

"Shut up Logan. Everyone knows that you sleep like a log." Scott's even tone cut in.

There was another, less insistent knock at the door, and the sound of Logan clumping away sullenly. "You know, it would be nice if you'd open the door," Scott commented lightly. "Or you can just go without your laundry..."

Nicole, closest to the door, jumped up to open it and to admit the rather resigned looking Scott and his blue laundry basket.

He gave the two girls a weary smile as he moved into the room. He looked exhausted. Once inside, he set the basket on the floor, hunkering down and bracing all of his weight on his heels. Two neat piles of clothing lay in the basket. Just by looking, one could tell whose undergarments (which lay on top of everything else on each pile) belonged to whom. Darker colors like reds, blacks, blues, and a few creams resided in Nicole's pile, and Katie's characteristic green bra resided at the very top of her pile.

Laughing to himself, and shaking his head, Scott heaved up Katie's pile and plopped it onto Katie's bed. "This pile would be yours, I assume. You're the only one I know that wears so much black." _and brightly colored underwear, it suits you_. He chuckled, giving her that slow, heart-melting smile before moving on to Nicole and depositing her pile on her bed. "And I figured this was your pile by default." He said, giving her a small smile.

Nicole rolled her eyes. _Oh Scottie... you're so obvious..._ "C'mon Professor, you obviously distinguished the pile with the green bra on top as Katie's, because that's just Katie."

"Well, it is true that no one else has underwear so very green," He commented lightly, giving Katie another of those smiles.

She tried to smile back, sitting down as casually as she could (having jumped up, expecting to be passed her laundry) as her knees went watery and her heart skipped a quick beat. She shrugged at him, a light blush coloring her cheeks. "The point of having a green bra is to have it be noticed, so I guess it's nice to know you have," she replied, feeling rather glad that the green-ness overshadowed the lacy-ness of the bras underneath.

Feeling a swell of annoyance at Katie's obvious infatuation, Nicole smacked her hand to her forehead lightly (so not to be heard) and shook her head. What was Scott supposed to say to that? I mean, he'd already gotten a sampling of the kinds of undergarments that Katie wore... what was he supposed to say, ' Oh yes, I know that you like to wear very naughty underwear, and quite frankly it's very nice?'

Scott blushed. Wow. For someone as usually aloof and detached as Scott, a blush was definitely unexpected in any perspective. He cleared his throat, "Uhm, well I have a lot more laundry to get to so... You girls... get a good night's rest... we'll be attempting the Brotherhood Simulation again tomorrow..." with this said, he swiftly made his exit.

"He looked exhausted," Katie commented offhandedly, and Nicole groaned. "What?" Katie asked, looking completely confused & oblivious as to why Nicole might want to look so exasperated.

"You're so... obvious!" Nicole exclaimed, rolling her eyes.

"I don't get you." Katie looked at her friend calculatingly. "What _are_ you talking about?" she asked as innocently as possible.

Nicole groaned, flopping over to the side, sending up a flurry of feathers and extra pillows. "You are sooooo riding the Scott-love boat." Nicole moaned, when she reappeared from her fortress of pillows and comforters that she called a bed. "I know!" she snapped her fingers and grinned, "You can start your own Scott Fan club! I could give you a few of my sketches of him to put on T-shirts. I've already received offers from the Logan fan club to sell them one of Logan for some printed lingerie that they want to get. For real." she wrinkled her nose, but continued grinning broadly.

Katie laughed, imagining girls running about with Logan's sneering face printed on their bras and panties. "Oh, Nicole, you should have given it to them... it would have been hilarious." She paused for a moment, thinking over what else Nicole had said, sinking into her own pile of cushy things. "I think he'd be somewhat terrified to have a bunch of girls running around with his face printed on their chest." Besides, that would mean having to share...

Nicole grinned and shrugged nonchalantly. "Hey, I wouldn't mind a Scott-shirt. He is on the majorly stud muffin side. Even with the sketchy glasses. But they put him into the mysterious stud muffin category..." she teased, wiggling her eyebrows and her voice raising into that hyper, taunting tone that she often got when she talking about absolutely crazy things. "He's got nice hair too." Nicole reflected, putting on a fake thoughtful expression.

Katie rolled her eyes, and grinned. "I've seen that hair in a bed-head mess." she challenged softly.

"OOOOHHhh NO YOU DIDN'T" Nicole squealed, and then added slyly, "Or have I got it all wrong? Are you and Scottie-boy riding the love boat together? Are you guys sneaking around and doing bad things behind me and Xavier's back?"

Katie laughed. "Oh, definitely Nicole. Me and Scott, all the time. Beds, showers, classrooms...mmhm. Every night, Nicole, all night long..." she trailed off with another laugh. "Oh, I wish..." she added (more seriously) with a dreamy smile.

Nicole's brow furrowed. "You better not wish. He's an actual teacher. He could lose his job... and it would be statutory rape and there'd be a court case...and he could end up in jail." she mumbled seriously.

Katie gave her an exasperated look and sighed, "You don't think I know that? Obviously it's just infatuation. I'll get over it. Besides, Scott is a mature guy with a good conscience and a good grip on common sense. Do you really think he would go and ruin it with an under aged student like me?" she snapped.

With that lovely damper on the mood, Katie got up and grabbed her things, walking off to the bathroom to change and brush her teeth for bed. Both happy/disappointed to not see Scott in the hallway she yanked at her clothing rougher than usual, not enjoying the reminder that she was beyond unavailable. Oh, it's just not fair... she thought to herself, despondently. The only person to express any interest in her, she couldn't stand, and the one person she had feelings for didn't, couldn't, have any feelings for her. _Why? Why...?_

When Katie returned to the room, Nicole was already dressed for bed and rolled up in her blankets. She apparently intended to sleep instead of talking all night like they did sometimes. Shrugging, Katie put her dirty clothes in the hamper that resided in her corner of the room; she really didn't feel like talking about her issues anymore. Neither did she want to think of them, but that was something that she had no control over. Minds slip, even if they're slipping into things that they don't want to think about.

Slipping into bed, she 'harrumphed' and rolled over, watching Nicole close her curtains with a flourish, muttering, "Gah, effing moonlight!" sleepily.

With a sigh, Katie settled herself comfortably in her covers and many blankets and slipped into a troubled sleep.


	23. Chapter 23: When You Don't See Me

Scott rolled over with a heavy sigh. He just couldn't seem to sleep at all lately...

With another sigh, he shoved the sunglasses back on, and got up, throwing a shirt on. _Might as well take a walk_. There isn't anything else to do, except think. And thinking definitely wasn't good for him... not when she was all that was on his mind. Of course, it didn't help that their room was so very close to his.

He paused in the doorway, locked in an internal war between his conscience (_don't go! no!_) and temptation (_why not? she's asleep_)... Temptation won out.

A chill ran up his spine, and he flinched when the doorknob was infuriatingly loud when he turned it. God, he had struck an all time low. _I mean... at least Jean... **no. **_He wouldn't think of her now. His stomach clenched unpleasantly, and his heart felt as if it were in his throat.

He swallowed as he entered the room, his heart (now back in its usual spot) thudding loudly in his own ears. He moved to kneel beside Katie's bed, the curtains were thrown open, and the moonlight shone in to illuminate her sleeping form. Her covers had slipped down to drape over her cotton pajama pant clad hips, and her v-necked shirt hung low over her bosom, just enough to reveal a tempting amount of cleavage.

Scott exhaled shakily, not having realized that he had been holding his breath. The knot in his stomach eased, all thoughts of Jean dissolved. _Katie_...

Reaching up with one trembling hand, he brushed the tips of his fingers across her cheek, along the line of her jaw. _Oh, she was so soft_...

But he yanked his hand back, holding his breath again, waiting for her to wake up with a scream. After several, long tense moments with his heart pounding, he breathed out. Katie shifted lightly, but no more.

_This is ridiculous_... some tiny, rational part of him thought. The fear (no, more a controlled terror), the tension, the idea that he could lose it all if he was caught, only served to amplify her loveliness, to increase the temptation... and the potential reward. _Damn, _he thought again, hopelessly, as he reached up to touch her again.

Practically panting, he bit back a moan when trembling fingertips came in contact with soft, silken skin. _Oh, so ridiculous_. He was unable to ease the trembling of the other hand while one smoothly traced the outline of her face, and then toyed with a strand of hair that hung in her face.

She made a soft noise in her sleep, stoking the fire of want, need and desire that burned in the pit of his stomach.

He closed his eyes momentarily. "Why do you make me feel like this?" he whispered, moving closer as if expecting her to whisper the answer to him. But she merely continued to sleep peacefully, her tongue darting out to wet her lips in her sleep. God...

His hand dipped lower to trance the line of her neck, feeling the beat of her pulse beneath the soft skin... she trembled lightly in her sleep, and he froze again, but there was nothing more than that brief shiver. "Why can't I take my mind off you?" he whispered again, hand going to cup her chin, and thumb brushing lightly across her lips. Biting back another moan, he tried to think of what her mouth might taste like...

He could just... No. He wouldn't stoop so low as to take advantage of her unconscious state. Even... even if she was like this. He could feel her breath bathing his hand in delicious warmth.

"Katie..." he mumbled softly, temptation beginning to boil over. He'd underestimated how close he was to her. Suddenly she was so close. He brushed his thumb over her lips in a gentle caress. Then, with a rush of mixed and confused sensations, replaced it with his lips. Brushing against hers softly.

She reacted very subtly at first, mouth pressing a bit more against his own, as though she had some vague idea of what was going on... His hand moved to the back of her neck, fingers curling in her hair, holding her there. _She'll be waking up soon_, he thought to himself semi-rationally. _But I really don't want to leave..._ Her mouth opened some, almost accidentally, and she made a small whimper/moan, still sounding asleep.

He couldn't help but let a small groan of pleasure slip between their joined lips, tongue sweeping along her bottom lip, just entering her parted lips ever so slightly. She made yet another noise, but not of protest, of wakefulness.

With a great deal of difficulty, Scott tore himself from her lips with one last brush, tongue sweeping out to taste her lips just once more. Then he quickly left the room. Gasping for breath, Katie sat bolt upright.

Completely awake now. Looking around her, she found no trace of her "visitor" save the taste on her lips. She thought she'd caught a glimpse of his back, but it had been impossible to tell in the dark... Taking as deep a breath as she could, trying to calm her racing heart, she leaned over. "Nicole!" she hissed. If she was awake, maybe she'd gotten a glimpse? It was obviously Shade, but _mmm, _she licked her lips again, she wanted to know who it was that had tasted (and kissed!) so good...!

After Katie's brief appraising thoughts of Shade, she hardly expected to get anything out of Nicole other than a groggy moan and complaints about the time. But what she got from Nicole completely shocked her.

"What is it?!" Nicole snapped, her voice tense and slightly disturbed. Her voice cut through the silence like a steak knife. Nicole's face appeared from inside the curtains of her bed, her face looked attentful and her head was cocked to the side as if listening. Nicole's wakefulness surprised her; Nicole never usually displayed this nocturnal attitude. Nicole looked as if she had been awake for hours. She was usually the first one to drop off! And even with her amount of sleep she continued to complain that she was tired.

"I was just wondering if you saw..." Katie began, but Nicole cut in.

"Shade? No. I didn't see him. But I heard him. I was getting some very aroused brainwaves from your side of the room. I've been up for hours... can't sleep, and you'd been having a VERY good dream that I enjoyed listening to mentally... I was bored. So I was used to your aroused brainwaves... but just now it was totally different. It was doubled... I knew someone else was in the room on your side. What happened?"

Katie shrugged a bit, biting at her lips. "That's the problem... I don't really know! I was dreaming, I guess; don't exactly remember about what and... I don't know, I woke up to someone kissing me..." She trailed off, hand cupped protectively over her mouth. "But he ran off when I woke up, I don't really know what was going on..." But she did. Shade had obviously paid her some sort of visit. She shivered lightly, having someone come and visit you in the middle of the night and not knowing exactly what they had done to you was a bit on the sketchy side.

Nicole's next comment would have been teasing, had the situation not posed itself as a slightly sketchy one. "Well... are you bleeding... you know...? Are you wet anywhere, are your clothes still all there? It wouldn't surprise me if he took your panties. He's probably off building a shrine of them right now." the last sentence of her comment however had an added snort and a grin for good measure.

Katie checked herself, she didn't hurt anywhere that she thought would be concerned with... well sex, and all of her clothing was left just where she put it. "No... no everything's still there." she commented, hinting at both her clothing and her innocence.

"You sure?"

"Yeah." Katie shivered again, this really was rather thrilling. He'd been a wonderful kisser (not that she really had much to compare it to), and it was rather nice to know she hadn't been groped, ravished, or otherwise taken advantage of. "Well, Nicole, apparently he doesn't just want to get into my pants." Katie commented, slightly smugly. It was also nice to know that he was more of a gentleman than Nicole gave him credit for (even if she might not have minded being ravished...).

Nicole shrugged, "Guess not." she mumbled begrudgingly. She grinned, "Someone sure has the hots for you though, don't they?" she teased, wiggling her eyebrows.

Katie smiled dreamily, "Yeah, and whoever it is, is such a good kisser. Oh, and it's not as if I'm the only one in this room who has someone that has the hots for them, miss I-got-smooched-by-a-semi-teacher."

Nicole bristled a bit. "It's not like I asked him to..." she muttered, pausing. "But I did enjoy it..."

"Enjoyed it a lot, I'd say," Katie added. "Just waiting for him to do it again... yearning for his touches, wishing desperately for his warm self in your lonely bed..." Katie fluttered her eyelashes exaggeratedly at Nicole, doing her best to imitate Nicole's girl-close-to-orgasm face.

Nicole shuddered, burying her face in one of her many pillows, and said in an offhanded squeal, "Nuh uh! Besides, I doubt Logan would fit in my 'lonely bed'" she denied. Though, Katie could tell that her comment had gotten to Nicole when she saw her eyes glaze over and her shudder, before wrapping herself tightly in her blankets. "Don't go and get all high and mighty with me just because you got a visit from someone and I didn't. Besides, I think you would have more than a slight problem with Logan being in the same room that we sleep in, with me while you try to sleep." Nicole snapped after shaking off her daze.

Katie made another exaggerated face. "Oh... eww. Yes, I think I'd prefer you went and warmed his lonely bed. That is not something I ever want to see." She twitched, feeling a bit scarred by this particular mental picture. Blech.

Nicole laughed a bit triumphantly at her friend. "So there."

"Besides... Logan may be ..." she hesitated, "Well, good looking in my opinion. But... he's old. I mean, he apparently doesn't know how old he is!"

Katie grinned, watching Nicole shudder and shake her head. She rolled her eyes. "Obviously, if you let him kiss you, you don't really mind that he's as you put, old. But as far as I can remember you were never ever into any of the guys in our schools that were our age! You were always all googly eyed at the older students." Katie laughed.

Nicole blushed and looked shy, "That's different!"

"I fail to see the difference. Save a good 17 years difference in age between Logan and those Seniors in the Wilmington high school that you used to ogle at."

Nicole sighed, looking away and shrugging. "I guess... I dunno. I guess I'm just trying to invent excuses so it doesn't seem like such a big deal. It won't happen again, I'm sure. Which I'm not sure I'm happy with that or not." she mumbled, lying down and gazing sullenly at Katie from a horizontal angle.

For a split second, Katie felt a surge of pity for the miserable Nicole, and fury at Logan. If Logan hurt Nicole, Katie was most definitely not responsible for Logan's 'accidental' critical electrocution. Because she was more than sure that Nicole would do the same for her. Grinning, she remembered her previous boyfriend (who had cheated on her) loping around the corridors, fully convinced that he was an orangutan for a month. Nicole even had him jumping on top of people and attempting to 'groom' them, and screeching while beating his chest. Yes. She most definitely would personally see to Logan falling off a cliff if this 'relationship' took a turn for the worse.

was going to say at least Jean was around his age


	24. Chapter 24: Angels Losing Sleep

Scott fell into a guilty sleep, though it was, in a way, relieving to have finally done what he'd wanted to for so long. He'd hoped not to dream of her again, it would simply be too much, but his luck had apparently run out...

...Scott walked along the hallway to his office, humming darkly to himself. It hadn't been the best of days, and he was exhausted. Opening the door, he faced it as he shut it, before turning to face an empty room. Or, rather, what should have been an empty room.

Katie was sitting on his desk, looking at him almost hungrily. She was wearing a long black bathrobe (though he had the distinct impression that whatever she was wearing under it was both lacy & brief), and when she slid off the desk there was the distinct click of high heels. Deliberately sashaying forward, she gave him a slow, vixen smile, reaching out to place on hand on his shoulder and the other cupping his face. "You look so lonely," she purred, gently rubbing his shoulder.

He choked on a gasp, while she continued rubbing his shoulder, gazing up at him through her lashes. "Don't you get lonely sometimes... Scott?" she her voice a light purr while she toyed with his tie idly.

He gulped, "Sometimes." he admitted, bitterly (not that she needed it).

She stood on tiptoe, leaning close, "You need a woman's touch..." she slid a hand up and down his chest slowly, popping open one or two buttons.

"But-" He managed to choke out, wanting her to stop as much as he didn't. "You- we... we can't-"

She only smiled up at him again, deftly untying his tie and tossing it off to the side. "I'm not going to tell..." She ran her fingers across his chest again, gently raking her fingernails across what skin she had bared, pressing her alluring length against his. "Besides," she continued, taking advantage of his (still) complete surprise at the situation and giving him a faintly triumphant well-you-haven't-tried-to-stop-me grin, even more painstakingly slowly then before raking a hand up his thigh, "I know you want me," she whispered, breath hot across his neck.

_Jesus_... "Katie we cant- ah." he had started out in a firm put-her-in-her-place voice but his sentence ended with a loud exhale, as that hand slid smoothly over the intersection of his trousers between his legs. He failed to bite back a groan, "Katie!" he meant his tone to be scolding, but it came out to be one of need and desire.

She laughed softly, moving on teasingly up his lower abdomen. She plucked playfully at the bottom of his shirt, un-tucking it. "I want you to make love to me." She moaned breathily. "Let me..." her hand teasingly slid underneath his shirt to lay her palm flat upon his stomach.

Scott shook his head, trying to resist. Knowing that she wouldn't stop even if he did refuse her... only tease him until he couldn't take it anymore.

She knew that his resolve had limits, and seemed hell-bent on pushing him to the point where he could no longer resist her advances. Sliding her hand further up under his shirt she began popping open the buttons, running her other hand over the skin she bared. "What's the harm if no one knows?" she breathed, sliding one hand up his chest to rest at his collarbone, the second to hook her fingers ever so slightly under the waistband of his pants. "Please Scott," She whispered, lying her face on her hand, eyelashes and lips fluttering against his neck. "I want you..."

He squeezed his eyes shut, not that she could tell behind his glasses, trying to muster the strength to shake his head, to push her away. But his muscles were tense from resistance and he couldn't bring himself to move. He groaned with his teeth clenched, trying to prevent the words that he wanted to scream from spilling out. _I want you too, so badly_.

Hot and moist, her lips trailed soft butterfly kisses down his neck, pausing at his collarbone, tongue darting out to taste him. All the while her mouth explored every inch of his bared skin, her hands slid up and pushed the fabric of his shirt off, and it slipped down his shoulders and fell in heap on the floor. She whispered his name softly between soft kisses all over his bared chest, lips making soft smacking noises as they came away from nibbling, kissing and sucking teasingly. "Please..." she breathed, coming to a halt to nip with her teeth at the thin skin just above the waistband of his pants.

Scott could hardly breathe, never mind speak. He cleared his throat, unable to take much more, his mind screamed NO but his lips formed the words, "Yes."

She looked up at him, both triumphantly and aroused, and he found himself dragging her back to her feet, hands practically tearing off her clothing as she finished tearing off his. They were moaning together, as he touched what he'd wanted to touch for so long, kissed her as he'd wanted to kiss her for so long... holding out as long as he could before finally throwing her on his desk and having her, finding ecstatic pleasure in both the having and the hearing her scream his name...

...waking up with a muffled swear as his alarm went off, rather louder than usual.

Grumbling sleepily, Scott slapped the button on top of his alarm clock brutally. Yawning, he sat up, stretching and running his fingers through his bed-head mop of brown hair. His eyes were closed of course, and he kept them closed, wondering sleepily if he had pulled his shades the night before.

Scott Summer's window shades had been specially designed for him to block solar energy from the sun out of his room. Scott's power allowed him to convert solar energy from the sun into powerful optic blasts, unfortunately due to an accident in his youth, brain damage prevented him from being able to control the blasts. It was like having the his own personal power switch stuck on 'ON'. So if the sun were to be blocked out, he could go about his business with out having to put his protective glasses on at all, since there was no solar energy to convert.

Tentatively, he opened an eye and surveyed the room. Nothing was blasted to pieces so he figured it was safe to go about his morning routine without his glasses. Sighing with slight relief, he got up. After making his bed he fished in one of his drawers for some clothes. He felt gross after his dream, but it was nothing a damp washcloth and some soap couldn't cure. Quite frankly, he didn't feel like leaving his room and having to put those damned glasses on just to take a shower.

He felt a fresh wave of guilt wash over him. He'd had another dream about her. Damn it. This was getting out of hand. Very out of hand.

It had been one thing, in the beginning, to have had a dream. It happened. But then he'd actually touched her at the dance, and it had started getting harder and harder to get her out of his mind. Then he'd started writing the notes... he'd started writing the first one, not intending to give it to her, but just to try and distract himself. And that had backfired. Then there was last night, when he'd gone and snuck into her room and taken some advantage of her sleeping state. And there was the new, much more disturbing dream. At this rate, he wouldn't last another week or two before finally really trying something, and there would go his job. His life. Goddamn.

Sighing in frustration, Scott went to inspect himself in a mirror that hung on the wall above a washbasin and a jug of water that sat on a small table. A man with bright blue eyes stared blankly at him from the other side of the mirror, blinking sleepily. He inspected his chin wearily. Slightly stubbly. He needed to shave, and clean himself up. He poured some water into the washbasin, but that wouldn't do. Cold water was not exactly a pleasant prospect.

Turning back to his bedside table, he jammed on his visor, while snatching up a razor, shaving cream, and a washcloth from one of the small drawers in the table, then opened a shade a crack, allowing sunlight to filter into the room. Carefully, he aimed a short blast of small caliber into the basin of water, which set the water to boiling slightly. He then shut his shade and waited a few minutes for the water to cool and for his powers to fade before taking his visor off and tossing it onto his bed. He then went about shaving, all the while staring resentfully at his sleepy features, and at the same time enjoying the look of his face without his glasses on for a change. If only he could walk around like this... let people see beyond the expressionless glasses that he wore..

He'd been able to do that all of once, two winters ago, when there had been an exceptionally violent blizzard. The entire place had been snowed in, and for all of a day he'd been able to really look at people. But even then, having people diving off to either side terrified of being burnt when they saw he wasn't wearing glasses hadn't done much for his feelings either.

He sighed again, putting the razor down and checking for missed spots. Dipping the washcloth into the still warm water, and removing his clothes, he cleaned himself as quickly as he could without becoming distracted or disturbed, then donned some fresh ones.

He observed himself closely, noting the way his blue shirt brought out the bright blue eyes that stared blankly back at him. Those eyes that had long since given up showing emotion, since it was useless. He had become so much more accustomed to showing emotion through the rest of his face. He attempted to smile; it just barely reached his eyes.

Feeling the same hopeless, helpless frustration building up in side him that had caused him to break several other mirrors before this one, he punched his hand through the mirror with a strangled cry of anger. The mirror shattered into a million sparkling pieces. A few pieces jutted out from his knuckles in jagged angles and he laughed at the humor of it almost hysterically.

When he calmed down, he surveyed his surroundings. Damn. Logan would give him hell for having to go and fetch another mirror. He flinched when he noticed that his hand had begun to throb. He plucked the shards of glass from his knuckles. He snorted. At least his claws were removable.

- - -

Scott glared rather pointlessly at the banana nut muffin sitting on his plate. It wasn't its fault that he'd had to put on those damned glasses to come down to breakfast, it wasn't its fault that his hand was wrapped haphazardly in gauze and throbbing, and it wasn't its fault that he was going to have to explain to Logan about yet another broken mirror. It also wasn't its fault that he still felt guilty as hell. Looking morose, he broke a piece off. As the muffin had done nothing to start his problems, it couldn't solve them, but at least it tasted good.

As he thought, when Logan came down to breakfast and Scott explained his situation, Logan burst out angrily.

"Jesus Christ, Slim!" he burst, using his favorite nickname apart from One-eye, Scooter, and Boy Scout (Scout for short), "That's got to be the 15th mirror this month. Are you really that emotionally unstable, or do you go around smashing mirrors on purpose?!" he bellowed over Scott's muffin at him.

"Logan you're attracting attention." he growled, through gritted teeth. He had a particularly bad headache this morning.

"When doesn't he, Professor?" Nicole's voice called in an odd greeting behind him. She was standing a ways behind Katie, who was standing directly behind Scott. Nicole looked oddly angry this early in the morning, and Katie smiled in greeting.

He jumped. _Calm down... she's probably just going to ask you a question. _

Katie blushed slightly while he stared at her expectantly. Waiting for her to weigh him down with questions on their latest Math assignment. "Um professor. We..." She began, but Nicole cleared her throat and gave her a look to say; leave me out of this it was your idea "I just noticed that your hand was bandaged and was wondering what happened. Then Logan started shouting so I figured I'd see what was going on..."

Scott sighed, half-wondering what everyone's reactions would be if he told her all the truth. _'well, I'd had this dream about fucking you on my desk. Then woke up and had to shave/clean up, and decided to smash my mirror because I hate the way I smile without my glasses on_.' No, that was probably a bad idea. "When isn't Logan shouting?" he commented instead, less harshly. (Nicole nodded in agreement). "I had an argument with my mirror this morning, and it won." He finished, looking at the bandage on his hand somewhat unhappily.

Katie flinched, "Ouch.. You should probably go and your hand looked at.. there might be glass that you can't see embedded in your skin.." she said, concern flashing in her eyes as they flicked to inspect his bandaged hand.

Scott laughed, shaking his head. "I'm fine. I've had worse." he said lightly, waving away her suggestion.

Katie bit her lip, looking unsure. "Alright.. that's all I wanted to know... Oh! Actually. Are we having that test today in Math?" she asked hesitantly. Dreading the answer.

He smiled and nodded.

Nicole groaned from behind Katie. "I haaate mmmaaattthh! Now I have to go study! Quick! Katie! If we leave now we'll have a good hour to study before classes!" with that, Nicole took hold of Katie and dragged her away at a run, not sparing even the smallest of backward glances for Scott or Logan.


	25. Chapter 25: Policy Of Truth

Scott was in something of a better mood later, as he sat on his bed (unfortunately, with the glasses, but that really couldn't be helped), watching as Logan knelt on his floor, cleaning up the glass shards that had flown everywhere. It was always fun to watch Logan work when he didn't have to. It also helped that his hand had stopped throbbing, at least for now.

Logan, on the other hand, was not enjoying himself. "I swear, if you break one more mirror-"

"Then you're going to have to pick it up again. Without a fuss." Scott said curtly, smirking when Logan whipped around and winced when he clutched his handfuls of glass to tightly.

"Why don't you pick up _your_ mirror that _you_ smashed?" Logan snapped, eyes flashing furiously, "I could be doing something better with my free time!"

"Like what? Lounging around in the Rec Room with your fellow teenagers?"

"I am not a teenager," Logan muttered, more to himself as he picked some glass from the rapidly healing cuts on his hand.

"But you might as well be," Scott replied, enjoying Logan's discomfort. Stupid Logan... he doesn't have any problems, does he? He just loafs around all day, unless someone needs something fixed. No worrying about glasses for him. Retractable steak knives are plenty easy to control! Deep in his own thoughts, (as usual) he almost completely missed whatever Logan had muttered to himself. "I'm not surprised Nicole's unhappy whenever you're in the room- wait. What did you say?"

With a frustrated groan of anger, Logan looked back at him while plucking shards of glass from the palm of his hand. It wouldn't be a big deal for him normally... but he actually felt the pain before he could heal... and if a shard of glass got caught while he was healing it would be stuck under his skin for good if he didn't fish it out. Paining him then healing, pain, heal, pain heal. It was an annoying process. "Jeez Scooter, are you hard of hearing as well? I said that Nicole wasn't exactly a ray of sunshine this morning considering that she'd received her first kiss just yesterday." he growled, turning his back to Scott and dusting the glass off of his hands and into a dust bin.

Scott sat stalk still with shock. What? "Logan... what did you do...?!"

Logan looked up at Scott, smirking as innocently as it is possible to do so. "I didn't do anything..."

Scott did not look amused. "I know you did something! What did you do?"

Logan tried to protest. "I didn't do it! I wasn't her first!" He then paused for a moment, realizing what he'd said.

Scott's eyes widened, not that Logan would have been able to tell. Apparently he wasn't the only one with an attraction to the wrong sort of person... "But you did, didn't you!?"

"No!" Logan hastened to defend himself." I didn't mean... I didn't..." he began lamely.

Scott fixed him with a hard glare, not that Logan could see his eyes... but... they were in his room... could he chance it? "Logan... tell the truth. Did you... or did you not kiss Nicole." his hand moved to his glasses. Logan didn't know that he could take them off.

He saw Logan blanch. "Look Slim... you should have seen that totally disgraceful kiss Ice-Cube distributed... it was so pathetic... it"

Angry now, How could Logan stoop that low? Scott whipped off his glasses, fixing Logan with a hard glare, not hiding his pleasure in seeing Logan flinch. He'd wanted to dive to the side. Scott could tell. "That it made you try and out do him?!"

"What the- your eyes!" Logan stared at Scott, completely flabbergasted.

"Yes Logan, I have two. Now focus." Scott glared at Logan, having completely enjoyed the way Logan had flinched and nearly dived out of the way. Well, he was right to... Scott wouldn't have been sorry if he'd been wrong and burnt him. "So you're saying that you watched them kiss, thought he-" Ice Cube? Did Logan mean Bobby? "Did a bad job, so you just _had_ to pull her aside and show him up?"

His glare back in place, Logan didn't answer immediately. After a few moments of silence while the tension between the two built, Logan looked away, nodding curtly. "Basically." he growled through gritted teeth. He at least had enough decency to look ashamed, closing his eyes and squeezing the bridge of his nose.

Scott snorted disgustedly. "What, do you go around kissing 15 or 16 year old girls whose boyfriends don't kiss them the way you think they should be kissed?!" he shouted suddenly. Logan could see a muscle jump in his jaw.

"NO!" Logan snapped back, trying to defend himself, sounding almost pathetically over-defensive. But then, this was a fairly serious matter. "Only her..." He trailed off a bit, knowing how that would sound.

Scott would have liked to say something else biting, but a sudden (and fairly unwelcome) burst of sympathy interfered. "Are you saying you feel for Nicole?"

Logan twitched, an unfamiliar emotion flickering in his eyes but disappeared before Scott could analyze it. Logan regained his composure, smirking. "If you mean 'feel' as in have had several dreams about having her, and being unable to stop looking at her for more than 10 minutes. Then yes. But if you mean 'feel' as in that stupid, infatuation that people call 'love'? No." he commented airily, something deep inside of him began to scold him for not telling the entire truth. Such as the fact that he could go without thinking or looking at her but would become so flustered and distracted with whatever that he was doing that he couldn't help it, or that if he thought about it hard enough... he could still taste her and feel her small, soft fingers sifting through his hair while her soft moans and sighs vibrated between their lips. But he quickly doused those thoughts, as they began to bring the warm shivers, the clench in his stomach, and the knot in his throat that came as side affects to those sorts of slips of emotions. No. He reestablished his wall. Meanwhile Scott saw that brief hole in Logan's wall of solitude, saw his tense muscles slacken for a split second, and the chips of ice that where his eyes melted. But they quickly refroze, the thaw gone as soon as it had come.

"Well, that would just make you a pedophile, wouldn't it?" Scott commented, quietly, wondering if he could get Logan to keep talking. It was interesting... for a moment, he could have sworn Logan was lying, and that he did feel something for Nicole. Given that "Logan" and "feelings" were two words that never met, it was extremely interesting.

Scott watched Logan scoot backwards and prop himself against the wall, sighing. "I guess so." Logan mumbled softly. No sarcasm, no smirk, no pun intended... No Loganism at all...

Scott wondered, was what Logan displayed himself as, gruff, rude, emotionless, the real Logan? Intrigued, Scott sat back on his pillows on the bed, observing Logan closely. "Well, have you...er... 'wanted' anyone... as... young as Nicole... before?" he asked, feeling awkward and trying to put it in a way so Logan wouldn't feel offended. That was first.

Logan furrowed his brow. "She's not that young." he protested.

This time, Scott snorted with actual amusement. "Oh, sure. And I guess you were about to say that you're not that old?" he teased, laughing at Logan's offended look.

Logan made a bit of a face; it was generally fairly easy to forget how little he really knew about himself. "You know I'm not sure how old I am..."

Scott couldn't resist running with that. "So for all you know, you could be twice her age." A pause. "Or more." He'd been about to say, 'for all you know, you could be as old as her father', but that was something he simply did not want to contemplate.

Logan frowned. "It's not exactly my fault that I've developed this... obsession. Over her." he said at last, running his hand over his chin.

Scott could hear the slight scritchy noise that the other man's stubble made against his palm. He raised an eyebrow, which Logan noted, did absolutely nothing to intimidate him without the glasses. "Oh? Then whose is it?" he prodded. He was extremely curious now. It was one thing to deny that you have no control over who you fall in love with, but with obsession it was totally different. Unless...

Logan glared at him, "Hers. I mean, the girl goes around taking showers without locking the door to make sure no one will walk in on her for chrissake... is it really my fault that it all started that way?"

"You mean... you walked in on her and..?"

"Yup."

"And you saw... her naked?"

"Well, no. But topless and braless. Yes."

Scott made a choked noise of disbelief. "No."

"Yes."

There was a brief silence as Scott mulled that particular bit over, and Logan tried to change the subject. Having his obsession analyzed was not really what he wanted to do with his morning. "Well, I don't think I'm the only one who has some explaining to do... I've definitely seen the way you look at Katie." He paused for a very short moment, not giving Scott time to respond. "She was the girl you felt up at the dance too, wasn't she?"

Scott blushed, his mouth wide open, looking like a shocked school boy (in Logan's opinion) with those startlingly blue eyes, wide and round. "I-well, yes... but that has nothing to do with anything!" he denied while Logan laughed huskily.

"Nothing to do with anything? Please, Scout. Don't deny that ever since then that you've been somewhat infatuated with her. Always looking at her when you think no one else is watching."

Scott sighed, deciding that it might be a good idea to just tell someone. After all, Logan was as guilty as he was, so it's not like he'd be telling anyone. "Somewhat infatuated?" he replied, with a light tinge of bitterness. "Maybe in the beginning... but not any more." He paused, hating the term Logan had used, but it fit far too well. "More of an obsession."

Logan raised an eyebrow and began, "Obsession? Like mine? Or possibly... worse... I know how you were with J-"

Scott's eyes flashed, "Yes." he cut Logan off. "Possibly worse. Only I haven't gone and tried to eat her face off quite yet." He smirked, surveying Logan in an almost smug way. Somehow, this 'heart to heart' had turned into the battle of the egos.

"That doesn't mean you haven't wanted to." Logan replied a bit sullenly, he hadn't tried to eat her face off exactly, though he would have liked to. It really had only been a kiss, though he'd really enjoyed it. And who was to say Scott wouldn't have, had he been given the chance? Grumpily, Logan expressed this notion to Scott, who snorted with disgust.

"No Logan, I highly doubt it. No matter how much we have in common with this 'obsession'... I refuse to even consider the fact that I might end up having as little self control as you do." Scott lied through his teeth. _You liar. You did lose your self-control, and your actions last night are proof of it. _But he would never let Logan know what he had done. He'd never live it down.

"Somehow I doubt even someone as perfect as you are would be able to resist the temptation." Logan replied semi-sarcastically, actually using a three-syllable word in a 'casual' conversation. He was rather hoping to needle Scott into admitting something (because there were simply too many situations that allowed students and teachers to be alone together, for anyone with worse of an obsession than himself (as though this was some great standard) to have kept their cool). And it would be nice to be the lesser of the two perverts in the room.

Scott gave him 'the look' though it was sort of hard to see that for what it was since the glasses had been deleted from the picture. That look that made all emotion drain out of his face and leave a relatively blank emotion there that didn't reveal whether he was pissed, or couldn't care less. It was usually hard to tell beneath the glasses, but without them he could see the anger in those bright blue eyes. "Logan. Let me just answer the question that your attempting to ask me. I have never and will never attempt to make out with Katie." _Not when she's conscious at least..._

Both newly inducted members of the (newly formed) pedophile club were about to initiate some change in conversation subject, when the overly cheerful bell rang. Scott looked momentarily panic-stricken. "Shit!" He hissed enthusiastically. "I have a class!" That would be great, wouldn't it? Being late for his own class... and he needed to give out a test, too. Jumping up, he dashed for the door.

He hardly made it to the door before Logan yanked him back by the back of his shirt, barking angrily in his face, "You idiot! Are you insane? You can't seriously think that you could leave this room without wearing your glasses." he growled, but that wasn't all. "I'm not stupid, I know these shades are the only reason you can take off your glasses. You just caught me off guard before... so don't go thinking that I would just let you run out without your glasses. You'd crisp your class to bits before you could start that test. Pity."

Scott gave Logan a look, half-irritated and half-almost-grateful for having been spared crisping his class (or the hallway) to unrecognizable bits. "I'm glad to hear you sound concerned for someone else's welfare other than your own." He shook Logan off roughly. "Or is that just because Nicole's in my class?" He asked, grabbing the sunglasses off of the bed where he'd left them, and jamming them unhappily on to his nose.

Logan gaped at Scott. "No." he denied, "It's just that, I would be blamed. Seeing as I was the only other person in the room who could have warned you. If I didn't stop you, I'd be in so much trouble..." he mumbled, his sentence trailing off as he tried not to consider the consequences.

Scott stared blandly at Logan behind the impassive glasses. "Oh, like you weren't in trouble before? For reasons unknown?" Scott commented, brushing himself off and straightening his shirt.

Logan grunted gruffly, lip curling unpleasantly. "Shut up and go off to your class. I have better things to do other than talking to you." he growled. The mood of guilt and some sort of understanding that had been hovering in the air during their conversation promptly died as Logan brushed past Scott and out the door, taking long strides in the direction of the Danger Room. Off for a stress relieving workout no doubt.


	26. Chapter 26: Feels Like The First Time

Glaring at Logan's retreating back, Scott hurried off to his class, reverting back to the dark, emo-esque mood of earlier. The class had obviously hoped that he'd chosen not to come, and hastily sat back down and quieted as he entered the room, carrying the stack of dreaded exams.

"Oh, do we really have to take them?" Someone whined from the back of the room. "I don't think there's enough time left in the period...?"

Sighing, Cyclops let the papers fall onto his desk with a dull 'whump'. He rubbed his temples gingerly, his normal headache was settling in again. Damned brain damage... "Pyro, if you have trouble finishing the test I would gladly allow you to come at the end of the day and give you the extra time. The same goes for all of you. Now, books away and pencils out, no buts." he said, picking up the test papers and beginning to pass them out.

A groan sounded from the students in unison, and the sounds of books being stuffed into bags and pencils being moodily slammed onto the top of desks filled the room. Scott was given some rather withering looks as he passed a test to each student.

As he passed on to Katie she made a sad, pained faced flinch. "Thanks..." she mumbled reluctantly, though not sarcastically.

And when he passed Nicole, her eyes were closed and he could feel the nervous brainwaves as he passed her test. Apparently when she was nervous, Nicole's telepathy went haywire. _The square root of 25 is... uhmm... umm... damn it! I'm so screwed..._ he could vaguely hear her think. Hopefully, she wouldn't radiate answers throughout the room.

"You'll do fine. Just relax. We can't have everyone in the room hearing your answers to the problems while they take the test." he murmured softly, patting Nicole sympathetically while he exchanged a slightly amused glance with Katie, who grinned, then turned to tackle the first question.

Katie finally put her pencil down as the bell rang, heaving a great sigh of relief that she'd managed to finish, even if it had been a close thing. Nicole had finished as well, as had about half the class. Rather ironically, it was Pyro who had finished first. Grabbing her paper, Katie waited in line as others dropped off their papers before running off to their next class.

Handing it to him, she gave him as much of a polite smile as she could manage, fairly certain she'd failed. Waiting for the rest of the class to leave, she hung around, not really wanting to ask him for extra help in front of everyone. It was going to be awkward enough... she knew he did it for a few other students, but what if he was busy? Or if she did something stupid? Would it really be all that better to have him know for sure that she didn't understand half of what they were learning?

After slowly gathering her stuff and telling Nicole not to wait for her, Katie slowly approached Scott. He'd just sat down on his desk to read some of the papers that had been passed in, chewing idly on the cap of his pen, before he jumped up off of it with a yelp.

Katie failed to suppress a giggle. He looked up, surprise written all over his face.

She stifled the giggle, clearing her throat. "Er... something wrong with your... desk Professor?"

He swallowed, wishing that if it had to be anyone commenting on his (new) dislike for his desk, that it didn't have to be her. "No, nothing's wrong," He replied as lightly as possible, obviously unable to explain. _'well, I had this dream about fucking you on it...'._ "Is there something you want to ask me?" he asked her, wondering why she hadn't left and wanting to change the subject.

Katie looked away nervously. He wouldn't make fun of her, she was sure, but... he could always give her that 'look' . The look that teachers give students who are too thick to comprehend a word that they're saying. An almost pitying look. "Um... well, actually. Yeah, I do. I was just wondering if..." she shifted from foot to foot nervously.

Scott appeared to be paying close attention, the beginnings of apprehension on his face. He nodded, "Hmm?"

"If..." Oh, why was she bothering? Was all this awkwardness really worth it? Was passing the stupid class really worth the emotional trauma she'd undoubtedly face, if he gave her that look? "If... you'd be willing to, you know... give me some extra help? I just don't get this... if you have the time, that is... I wouldn't want to be some sort of problem," she continued rather incoherently, biting at her lip and looking more than a little flustered.

The look on Scott's face faded from apprehension to complete, and total relief. He smiled and laughed, "You want me to give you some extra help? Katie, why would you even hesitate to ask me, if you needed it? Hell, almost half of the class needs it." he laughed, setting his papers aside on his desk. He approached her and smilingly patted her on the shoulder. "Of course I can help you." he murmured.

Katie looked away blushing, "Well, I figured that you had a lot of other students coming to you for extra help... and I didn't want to add on to the list... I mean... you probably have much more important things to do."

He laughed a bit, though not unkindly (with her, not at her). "I wouldn't be much of teacher if I had more important things to do than helping my students."

She smiled at him weakly, a blush coloring her cheeks. Her knees had gone all watery when he'd smiled at her, and now that he was so close she was certain he could see them trembling. God, Nicole was going to have a field day if she managed to get into her memory of this... "Well, I have the free period before and after dinner, and sometimes in the morning... I don't know when you're free?" She asked/mumbled a bit indistinctly.

Scott shrugged, walking slowly to his desk with Katie at his heels. He sat down behind his desk and fumbled with a small pocket calendar, humming softly. "Hmm... Well, I'm sure in the morning you'll be too tired to want to go over math problems, and before dinner you'll want to do your homework or hang around the Rec Room. So after dinner sounds great." he said, looking up at Katie, "Is that good for you?"

Katie nodded, relieved that her blush had finally faded. "It's fine. So... we'll be meeting here? Or..." Katie trailed off wonderingly.

Scott's smile faded slightly, "Um no. The teacher's classrooms are locked during dinnertime and then unlocked an hour before class starts in the morning. Logan keeps the keys. So if it's not a problem, you could just come down to my room after dinner and we'll go over some of the problems."

"No, it shouldn't be a problem..." Katie replied, hoping she wasn't blushing again at the slightly daunting prospect of visiting Scott in his bedroom. "But, I need to go... I have Physics, and I don't think Professor Xavier would appreciate it much if I'm really late. I'll see you... later?" She finished awkwardly, before grabbing her bag and dashing off.

"Yeah." Scott sighed as he rested his head on one hand, watching her scurry out of the classroom, "Later."


	27. Chapter 27: When I Think Of You

As Katie entered the room, Xavier ceased in his explanation of the periodic table and who had invented it, turning his wheelchair to face her. She stood in the doorway, momentarily paralyzed with embarrassment, and then quickly took her seat next to Nicole with an uttered "Sorry Professor."

As Xavier began his lecture once more so Katie wouldn't miss anything, turned to Katie with a questioning look. Katie determinedly ignored her friend, not really feeling like answering her questions; she took out a notebook and began to take notes. She vaguely heard Nicole's grumbling sigh before she heard the scratching of her pen on her own note book, the pen suspended in thin air above the paper and appearing to be writing on its own.

The class continued as usual, no one (not even Pyro) being brave enough to cause some sort of commotion in Xavier's class. It wasn't boring, per se, just rather unexciting. The motion of waves and different atoms simply being not much cause for joy. But the period did pass rather quickly, and most everyone was surprised to here the bell ring.

"Already? Wow." Someone stage-whispered to the kid next to them.

Katie tried to gather her things as quickly as possible, not really wanting Nicole to start re-asking her all those questions, but was interrupted by Xavier. "Would you mind waiting a moment?" He asked them, making kind but piercing eye contact.

Katie flinched, pausing in her gathering of her personal belongings. Nicole who already had her bag slung over her shoulder muttered, "I'll wait for you outside K?" looking uncertainly from Katie to Xavier, wondering what he could possibly want with Katie. If anything, Katie was her better at resisting the temptation to do bad things.

Xavier looked from Katie to Nicole and smiled, "I meant the both of you. If you don't mind, Nicole?" he inquired softly, raising his brows as if daring her to contradict him.

"No, sir. I don't mind." She mumbled meekly, letting her bag slide off of her arm and onto the floor, standing next to Katie. Waiting for the worst.

He looked up at them, though they rather felt like they were looking up at him, eyes as kind as ever, but knowing. "You've both seemed rather disturbed lately. Is there anything you would like to tell me about?" He asked gently, almost expectantly. He knew a great deal more than anyone else ever noticed.

Both girls' eyes widened in shock, turning in unison to exchange a look of utmost horror. "No, Professor. There's nothing..." Katie said softly, not exactly meeting his eyes, while clasping her hands together tightly to keep them from trembling and thinking determinedly about anything other than Scott. Nicole shook her head in earnest, all the while trying to block out the memories of Logan's knack at annoying, confusing, and arousing her.

Xavier looked at them both in turn, blue eyes sparkling with knowing, but did not ask anything more. If they were to tell him anything, even though he might already know what it is, they would do it on their own.

"Nothing's on our minds... just... lots of tests and things, Professor. Nothing major." Nicole said, smiling and trying to fluff it off.

He nodded at them, still smiling. "Well, if there is anything, I want you to know that you can tell me." He let a brief, guilt-laden (on their parts) silence elapse. "That was all; you can go to class now."

Katie nodded at him, thoughts undeniably and unbreakably centered on what she couldn't think about in front of the telepath. With both of their hearts pounding, they left the room. The minute that they though they were out of "thought shot" (as was the case), the duo immediately burst into speech.

"Agh... he must know something's up." Nicole moaned, covering her face and nearly walking into a few other students that were headed in the opposite direction.

Katie snorted, "Yeah, you think? Then again, we haven't really done anything. Well, I haven't anyway." Katie replied, smirking at Nicole, who peeked through her fingers at her reproachfully.

"Oh, ha very funny. It's not like I had a choice."

"Well, you're the one who can phase through solid objects, not me. Don't you think you could have taken advantage in said situation?"

Nicole froze, suddenly realizing that yes, she could simply have phased right through the wall and out of Logan's reach. "Well... its not like I had time to really think about what was going on..." She trailed off, giving Katie a look. "I'd like to see you form a coherent thought if he randomly pinned you against a wall and kissed you," She muttered, trying to (sort of) defend herself. It was alright for Katie, being all high and mighty; she hadn't actually had anything happen. Well, not when she was conscious anyway. One couldn't exactly prevent someone from kissing you while asleep. Then again, when she really thought about it, if she had really not wanted to be kissed by Logan, she would have phased through the wall and into the hallway beyond.

Katie laughed, "Well, I would be able to seeing as I don't go for men with a large amount of facial or chest hair." she commented laughingly.

Nicole blushed, "His sideburns aren't that bad...they sort of... tickle." She began, but before she could finish any other statement, Katie burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"They tickle! Oh, that's priceless!"

Nicole looked at her friend a bit confused, wondering why her comment had been so very funny. "Well, they do-" She tried to continue, but was cut off by Katie's uncontrollable, nearly hysteric laughter.

Other students gave them a few odd looks (well, as odd as you can look at someone when you're hardly normal yourself). Katie kept laughing all the way to English, though by the time she'd sat down and faced Storm, the laughing had died to hiccups. "Oh Nicole..." she murmured to herself and her friend sitting next to her as usual. (Their geography teacher McCoy had once made a comment about declaring them "NicoleandKatie", all one word, because they were always together). "They tickle... ha ha..."

Nicole folded her arms grumpily, glaring at Katie from the corner of her eye. "Well they do, and I wouldn't be surprised if Scott had chest hair as well. Because its just unrealistic to think that all men look like the guys on the front of romance novels, their chests all gleaming and bald..." she snapped, expressing her dislike of the unrealistic-ness of romance novel covers.

Katie tried not to snort as Storm continued to pass out reading books. They were going to read a romance novel, she had explained, just to mix it up a bit. Katie turned to look at Nicole, "I hope you're not disappointed with the cover of our book... you could always cover it with blank paper and put a sketch of Logan on the front..." she teased, waggling her eyebrows teasingly.

Katie accepted the book with a smile, more at the indignantly muttering Nicole than anything. The cover depicted a darkened, spiky, gothic-esque castle, with the usual dirtily embracing couple at the foreground. The woman was a redhead, pale and clad in a very, very revealing green corset-ed dress, and the man (wearing black, obviously), was grinning scarily and eyeing her neck with shiny silver teeth. "Oooh! A Vampire one... 'Midnight Lover'" Katie murmured to Nicole.

There were several loud retching sounds from the boys at the back of the room as they were passed their books, and the furious clicking of Pyro's lighter.

"Why are we reading a vampire romance novel?" Nicole mumbled questioningly, her eyes were glazed as she stared down at the cover.

Storm answered her question. "We're going to be reading this book to examine the idea that vampires are a sort of mutant as well, though the typical romantic version of a vampire is made, not born. But there are mutants that appear to have a sort of, Vampire Complex, possessing incredible regenerative abilities and an unusual lust for blood." She spoke loudly so everyone could hear her over the clicking of that god damned lighter. "John! Please, I'm speaking." she scolded, giving Pyro 'the disappointed teacher look'.

"Yeah," Nicole snapped, turning around to face the grinning Pyro. "It's annoying. Like you." John just laughed, blowing Nicole a kiss and winking.

Pyro, ignoring the homework written on the board (he'd just smile at someone later and she'd tell him), went flipping through the book. "Hm... Wonder if there are any good scenes..." he murmured to himself, grinning. There were a good amount, most rather descriptive (not the usual school-appropriate fare, but this wasn't a normal school), but what he came to first was one of the very many, heavy-heavy flirting moments that made you want to rip their clothes off for them.

Pyro laughed, and it echoed throughout the room. Storm had given them a few minutes to begin reading the first chapter. Clearing his throat and standing up, he figured that he was doing his fellow male students a favor by reciting one of the good parts. _"'Vincent, doesn't it ever get lonely? Living forever, and never having someone by your side to tend to your needs?' Anna murmured breathily, tracing her fingers over a smooth, un-aged cheek, staring up into deep, fathomless black eyes. Grinning, Vincent pulled Anna close, pressing her alluring length against his yearning body. "No. Not now that I have you here with me, my pet." his voice was a heavy, breathy purr . His breath bathed Anna's bared neck with delicious warmth. Sighing, she clutched at his shirt, giving in to his will. Lips whispered lovingly across her trembling flesh, a hot tongue sliding luxuriously over her skin to ease the sting of his fangs as they sank into her. With a guttural moan, he drew at her very heartstrings as he drew her blood, bubbling hot and delicious into his mouth. She was his forever, and he would show her just how much he appreciated that he had something deliciously warm in his bed after so many years of solitude...'"_ he recited dramatically, looking at each girl in the room in turn. Everyone had turned to look at him, shocked. All of the girls sighed, and grinned dreamily, and the male population of the room was frantically flipping through the pages, desperately trying to find where Pyro was reading from.

"Well, that was fairly interesting," Katie commented, picking up her things, as the bell had rung some ten seconds after Pyro had finished his performance. "I think we're going to enjoy reading this particular book..."

Nicole rolled her eyes at her friend. "I'm just hoping we don't have to read any of the sex scenes out loud. That would be interesting."

Katie giggled a bit. "You're just sad Logan's not a vampire... kind of kills your in-class daydreaming, doesn't it?"

Nicole frowned, glaring at Katie in a miffed fashion. "No, I'm not sad in the slightest. If he were, then he would have sucked me dry rather than kiss-" "Shhh!!" Katie cut Nicole's sentence off, motioning for her to stop talking. Silently she ushered a flustered Nicole from the room and into the hallway. "You shouldn't go shouting things like that out loud in a class room. Especially in front of other faculty! They could tell Xavier..." Katie hissed, giving Nicole an exasperated look.

Sighing, Nicole shrugged nonchalantly. "Whatever. I wouldn't be surprised if he went around shouting about what he did on the roof tops so everyone in Westchester could hear." she grumbled.

Katie rolled her eyes at Nicole. "I don't think even _Logan_ would be that stupid."


	28. Chapter 28: Chasing Shadows

Katie shifted uncomfortably in her seat next to Nicole (they'd recently had their seats moved to opposite sides of the room in their geopolitical current events class, just to prove they weren't attached at the hip). She wasn't paying any attention to what she was eating, just going through the motions while looking up at the clock nervously.

"Katie! Stoppit!" Nicole hissed, as Katie bumped Nicole's elbow for the fiftieth time. "You'd think it was a date or something!"

Glaring at Nicole, Katie ceased her squirming. "It's not! I'm just nervous. I don't want to end up acting stupid around him. Especially when he's trying to do me a favor by helping me in Math." she snapped, pushing her rice around her plate moodily.

Nicole rolled her eyes over her book. She had taken an interest in their reading book and had buried her nose in it all dinner, barely eating, but when she did attempt to she missed her mouth. Of course, given the nature of the book, Nicole had attempted to cover the front cover with a blank piece of paper, only to fail miserably. So she read it as it lie flat on the table so no one could see the cover.

"Nicole, you've got to eat, and STOP reading that book! God... it's not going to get up and walk away." Katie snapped, still a bit miffed at Nicole's lack of support.

Nicole slammed the book shut anyways, her eyes wide, and immediately began shoveling food into her mouth as if it were her job.

Raising a questioning brow, Katie laughed. "What was that about?"

"Got to a 'good' part and decided that I'd rather not read it in public where everyone can see my reaction."

"Nicole, do you really think anyone's paying you any attention?" Katie pensively speared a single grain of rice, playing with it rather than eating it. "And how are they supposed to know what part of the book you're reading anyway? I'm more worried for what happens if we have to read them aloud in class..." She twitched lightly.

Shivering, Nicole nodded in agreement. "I don't see how we are supposed to relate a vampire to a mutant when everything in this book is so distractingly erotic." Nicole muttered darkly, mulling over her dinner roll, staring at it as if it were insulting her. She made a game out of making it levitate up and dropping into her hand repeatedly, until she accidentally lost control and it went whizzing up and landed with a splash into the nights featured soup. She blushed and lowered her head when more than a few heads turned to stare at her, some with amusement and those who had been splashed, with annoyance.

Katie sighed, "Nicole, you never cease to amaze me in the field of your questionable amount of maturity." she commented, shaking her head and laughing.

Nicole made a face at her friend, calling over another roll and playing with this one as well. "I'm not the one who likes to make all the lights flash in time with whatever music they're listening to." Nicole countered, trying to keep attention on both the conversation and the "magically" jumping roll.

"That doesn't splatter people with hot soup, Nicole." Katie grabbed the suddenly flying lump of bread before it managed to hit anyone.

"Splashing doesn't give people epilepsy either." Nicole countered, taking her roll back.

"No, but its hot soup. How would you feel if you were splashed with boiling hot soup?" Katie asked, stuffing the roll into Nicole's mouth, so she didn't have a chance to contradict her.

Scowling, Nicole bit off a hunk of her roll and put the rest on her plate, chewing angrily. Katie grinned triumphantly, that was the only way to get Nicole to shut up, stuff her mouth full of food.

After finally swallowing, Nicole made a pained face at Katie. "I hate when you do that. Then I can't talk. Or breathe."

Katie's grin widened, "Exactly."

Logan caught himself, about to laugh at their remarks, but realizing that letting on that he was paying rather close attention to anything Nicole did was a bad idea. Apparently there was another way to make Nicole be quiet, other than kissing her...

Scott looked up at the clock for the umpteenth time, waiting. He was planning to leave a little early, so he'd have time to clean up his room a little (it wouldn't be so nice to have bits of clothing lying around and things), but dinner was barely halfway through. He sighed, unsure of whether everything had slowed down through apprehension, or anticipation.

Unfortunately, (or fortunately, however you want to look at it...) the two teachers had only been able to find seats very near to the two objects of their denied affections.

Scott tapped his fingers rapidly on the table cloth of the table nervously, looking up at the clock every few minutes. He'd attempted to eat, but found that every time his fork approached his mouth he felt sick. Why did he suggest that they have the tutoring session in his room? Why couldn't he have suggested the library? Or somewhere else quiet? Why his room?????!!! He slid a glance toward Katie, and felt a shiver ripple down his spine. How would he ever make it through the tutoring session with that temptation sitting in the chair feet away from him?

Meanwhile, in his attempt to try to ignore Nicole's presence, despite his keen senses that were tingling on end, making him tense, he reached for a dinner roll, only to find Nicole's hand curled around it. Their fingers brushed and Logan's senses went haywire, the hairs of his arms rising in goose bumps. Damn it.

"You can have it." she muttered quickly, snatching her hand away and continuing her conversation with Katie.

Logan took the roll, though he wasn't paying any attention to it at all. Rather, he was concentrating on the split-second, momentary brush of their fingers, and the feel of her hand in his own. Looking up, as carefully as possible to look at her, he felt his stomach do another funny jump. A short, curly lock of hair had fallen in her face, and he curled his fingers tighter around the roll to keep from reaching out and brushing it out of her face... Damn! This is ridiculous! He'd understood it perfectly fine when she'd just turned him on, but now he wasn't sure what he wanted, just that it wasn't that simple anymore...

Logan tried to quickly avert his gaze when Katie looked up, but her eyes locked with his as if to say, not so fast.

She glared at him, clearly sending him hostile vibes. He tried to suppress a shudder, Katie and Nicole clearly had a strong friendship. His breath caught in his throat. Did Nicole tell Katie about the kiss?

Katie, trying to keep a small but sadistic grin off of her face at the fun in torturing Logan, sent him a tiny, threatening nod_. I know what you did, _her look seemed to say_, and I don't approve. Hurt her and die, asshole._ Deciding he was well-warned, Katie looked away, resuming the conversation as though nothing at all had happened.

Logan shrugged, its not like Katie had anything to worry about. If he tried to pull a stunt like that again, he was pretty sure he would get a lot more than a slap. He'd get a mental ass whooping, a very well aimed kick between his legs, and now adding Katie to the equation; he'd get a nice electrocution as well. Yes, he would stay far away from Nicole from now on. Very far away.


	29. Chapter 29: Troubled Child

As the bell that signaled dinner's end tolled, there was a great shuffle of students and teachers heading in all directions. Katie and Nicole headed out of the dinning hall and up the grand staircase, Nicole heading in the direction of their room, and Katie in the direction of Scott's room, her heart pounding like mad in her chest.

Hand trembling lightly, she nervously ran a hand through her hair. _Oh, this is going to be the longest evening of my entire life_. Sitting in his room, his _bedroom_, not four feet from him, and she was supposed to be paying attention to what he was saying. Oh, damn, why did they have to lock the classrooms?

Biting her lip, and shifting uneasily in her knee socks (Katie had gone for color coordination that day, green scoop necked (feeling much to low right now) shirt, black skirt, and black & green striped knee socks.), she reached up to knock on his door timidly.

After she knocked, she could hear the faint sounds of someone scrambling up as footsteps clonked along the floor behind the door to the side, then toward the door itself. When the door swung open, Katie teetered back to look up at Scott, while clutching her math book to her chest.

His hair was in disarray and wet, and he had a towel around his shoulders. He had on a simple dark blue t-shirt with the school's symbol at the top right just below the shoulder, (a silver 'X' contained in a circle), and some light, faded jeans. He wore no shoes, just dark blue socks. It looked as if he had just jammed on his glasses, they were slightly askew. He looked briefly panic stricken, but he slowly relaxed, leaning in his door way and smiling. "You're quick. I thought I'd have had a little more time since the bell rang." he joked, practically hinting that she was eager to see him.

She blushed, "I'm... sorry... do you want me to leave and come back?"

Scott grinned and shook his head, "No, no. That is fine. Uhm, c'mon in. Excuse the mess, when I woke up this morning I had no clue that I'd be having visitors." he chuckled, stepping back and allowing Katie to pass him into the room, before closing the door quietly behind her.

Katie surveyed the room with interest. Scott's room was brightly lit, tall lamps with lights scattered along the length of each lamp pole. From where she stood, the foot of the king sized bed that was situated in the very middle of the room, was perhaps 6 feet from her. On either side of the bed was a nightstand, each had a black piece of cloth that covered the surface, a lamp, a set of 3 drawers, and little miscellaneous bits and bobs such as wrist watches, extra pairs of glasses, and a small gold object that she couldn't make out from her stand point. On the left, stood a large closet with two doors, and off to the right corner, a desk was nestled and a couple of arm chairs situated nearest to the windows at the back, which were covered by heavy shades. A washbasin stood on a small table to her direct left, with a small mirror hanging above it. The wash basin puzzled her, as there was a small door to her direct right that led off into a half bathroom, with a nice marble sink and a toilet.

"Wow. Your room is much nicer than our room." she marveled, her mouth was slightly ajar and she couldn't stop staring.

He smiled at her. "It's a perk." Wandering over to the nightstands he straightened a few of the odds and ends, though it didn't really make much of a difference.

Turning to face him, closing her mouth and blushing slightly, trying not to look any more like the naive schoolgirl she was, Katie was completely confused to see him start taking off his glasses. Wait a minute... what? Why would he be doing that? "What... what are you doing?" She asked in alarm, biting down the urge to jump out of the way.

But it was too late, Katie saw it as if it were in slow motion, saw each finger curling tightly around the sunglasses and pushing them up and over his eyes, placing them strategically on top of his head so that they pushed back his hair slightly. Nothing happened. Nothing at all happened, and there Katie was, staring Scott Summers square in the eyes. Which were a lovely robin's egg blue. Her breath was caught in her throat and thoughts whizzed confusedly in her head. Why wasn't she dead? Why? What's going on? "W-What... your... your eyes are ... well they're blue, but... your sunglasses...?" she gasped.

He nodded at her, a small smile on his lips, rather glad she hadn't dived out of the way. Rather, she was just gaping at him, looking extremely confused. "It's the shades," He explained, gesturing to the ones covering his windows (not the ones on his head). "They block out the solar energy, so I can take off my sunglasses when I'm in here."

She nodded, though she still looked more than a little taken aback, but then, this was a rather revolutionary concept. Scott? Without the sunglasses? She blushed a little, a bit sheepish, though she couldn't bring herself to look away. Katie took a deep breath, trying to get much needed oxygen to her brain, which refused to cooperate with her. "Well," she gulped fishing for something to say other than ' you're pretty.', "You look... nice... with them off, it's good to see your eyes instead of your glasses... NOT that you don't look nice with your glasses on, but it's just that... that it's a nice change." she blurted, covering her mouth so she couldn't sound like even more of an idiot that she was now. 'Nice' didn't even scratch the surface of what Scott looked like with out his glasses. Light blue eyes shining brightly behind long, dark lashes, paired with his dark brown hair and handsome high cheekbones... and those lips...

She shook her self mentally, forcing herself back to earth just in time to hear him laugh. "Thank you."

With really nothing else to say, besides standing and gaping at him stupidly, Katie was almost glad when they moved to the other side of the room to actually get started on the math part that had been the reason for her visit in the first place. Sitting down (glad for the chair as it meant she didn't have to worry about falling over if he smiled any more at her), she shifted somewhat uncomfortably, opening her book to what topics they were currently discussing. "I just don't get it," she offered as explanation, still unable to get over how absolutely adorable he was, and how near they were sitting.

Scott, smiling and chuckling, shook his head. "What about it don't you understand? All of it? Or..?"

Katie paused, trying to take in what he just asked, he was so good looking. Teachers were not allowed to be this attractive. It was too distracting. Not that Katie was complaining. "Well, no not all of it... I get some of it... like what we discussed on Tuesday... er...trinomials, binomials, and monomials... I understood that... but ever since then... it's gotten much more complicated... and I just... I have problems with figuring out what to do first." she mumbled, looking away from him feeling stupid, and feeling his eyes pass over her face like beams of warmth. She shivered.

He nodded and for the next half hour he went through everything that they had done that week and a little before then thoroughly, and in ways that she could understand. It went by so quickly, that... she surprised herself when the words, "Oh... I get it now." slipped from her lips.

He smiled, pushing her math book back towards her along with a few helping hints and notes that he had written out for her, to her side of his desk. "So. Is it just Math that you have trouble with?" asked conversationally, eyes sparkling wonderingly as if he actually wanted to hear about her. Those eyes were going to kill her. They were so... vulnerable, showing raw emotions... opening a window into the Scott that she wasn't supposed to get to know. Teachers couldn't be friends, or more than friends... but here they were, about to pass into a personal conversation now that the work was done.

"Well, no, not at the moment..." She started, fiddling with a stray thread at the bottom of her skirt, thinking. She was doing alright in most of her other classes; it was her personal life that had gotten complicated. Though she could hardly explain to him the main reason why. "I'm doing alright in other classes, its other stuff that's gotten complicated," she offered, resting her head in one hand, glancing up and meeting his eyes briefly. Oh, those eyes. She had a feeling she was going to start dreaming about them...

His eyebrows rose, he sat back in his chair, crossing one ankle over the other, and leaning his head into his closed fist. "What kinds of things?" he queried, his voice light and a small encouraging smile on his lips.

Katie blushed, looking away and concentrating on fiddling with the thread. She shrugged, trying to appear as if she didn't really care at all, "Just... life. Being a mutant and things...my parents don't know that this is a mutant school. It's the same with Nicole. But then again, they don't expect me to come back either. They probably think that I'll go on to college right afterward. I'm usually in the way at home anyway. That's what my mom tells me. It's just getting harder and harder to be a normal teenager for me." she confessed truthfully, looking up from her thread to see that Scott was watching and listening intently.

Sighing a bit, she looked back down at the thread. "I got a letter from them recently, and they make it sound like they're having this grand old time without me... more, like its all gotten better since I left..." She trailed off again, biting at her lip. "Its not that they don't think I'm ever coming back... so much as it seems like they wouldn't want me to come back. And its not like I'd ever want to go back... it's just, I hate the idea that they'd want to just get rid of me. I mean, they're my parents..." She trailed off again, looking up at him, wondering what his life had been like before coming to Xavier's. She didn't know anything about him, really, so for all she knew he could have been abused or something (though how anyone could want to abuse him, she couldn't see), and she was just complaining about nothing.

Scott smiled sympathetically, shifting slightly in his chair. "Well, at least you know your parents." pointed out softly, his smile was thin now and his eyes deadened, sadness darkening them ever so slightly.

Katie froze, rigid on the edge of her seat, cold regret weighing down in the pit of her stomach. She bit her lip and glanced at him sympathetically. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything... you... you didn't know your parents?" she mumbled softly, leaning forward and staring at him intently, eagerly, and sadly to show him that she wanted to hear his own story.

He sighed, and long dark lashes blocked his eyes from view momentarily. "It's not that I didn't know them. Undoubtedly I knew them, but I don't remember them. All I know... well, what the people at the orphanage told me was that we were all in my father's air force plane... and then... I remember falling. Being pushed from high up, someone was next to me, holding onto me and crying. We were both crying.

"Then, what I assume was the parachute, slowed us down. Then there were flames and we fell even faster. My head bashed up against something hard, the ground I think, and the person that had been with me was gone. I don't remember anything about the hospital that I was taken to, though I was told that I was held there for quite sometime. Then I was in the orphanage, in Nebraska I think, and I remember everything there so well, even if I don't want to.

"They conducted experiments on me once my powers were manifested... people in white coats with cold hands always poking and prodding...They kept a bandage around my eyes to keep them shut. I remember tearing the bandage off and blasting someone in a white coat through the wall. They put me in a straight jacket after that, and I sat in a room all day. I don't know if it was an empty room, I couldn't see and I couldn't move, so it didn't really matter, but I remember hearing voices. Always talking about trivial things... holidays... special treats from the orphanage workers... foster parents... getting adopted... then they would talk about me when they thought I wasn't listening. Calling me names and saying that I was crazy, that's why they kept me in a straight jacket..." Scott shuddered, rubbing his closed eyes as if they ached.

Katie shuddered, feeling as if she were there with Scott. In the dark, and unable to move, hearing the nasty human children criticizing him.

Scott took a deep shuddering breath, and continued, eyes opening though they had a far away look to them, glazed over as if he couldn't see her. "I escaped. I was 16. I had to run with my eyes closed. Then I remember hearing Xavier's voice, he told me everything was alright... that I could be safe away from everyone... and that I could be able to see again... He took me with him... and gave me my glasses after many tests. And... I've been here ever since." he finished, looking away and running his hand over his mouth and chin slowly. His body had tensed during his tale, and now he relaxed into his chair, looking exhausted.

Katie sat in awe. "Oh my god. Pr- Scott, I'm so sorry I even brought it up... I didn't even stop to think... or consider..." she began, but the smile was back on Scott's face.

He laughed. "Don't worry about it. I'm happy now. I love it here; it's where I belong... and where the memories of my past don't even matter. Not anymore. I've dealt with them already, and now all they are, are slightly painful memories. Don't be sorry. I'm glad you brought it up. It feels good to talk about my problems. To get them off of my chest." He confessed, shrugging and smiling. Eyes sparkling once more.

Katie smiled (or did her best to) back at him, feeling the knot of guilt in her stomach relax. There was a part of her (a very small part) that was laughing right then, laughing at her clichéd, romance-novel moment/feelings. 'Everything suddenly better when he smiled' sort of thing... But it was true. The mood (at least for her) had brightened, and it had been suddenly easier to smile when his eyes had sparkled. "Well, I'm glad you're happy now...?" She said uncertainly, unsure of exactly what to say. 'Your welcome'?

Scott grinned, "Of course, it would suck to have an irritable, bitter teacher. Especially in the subject that you're having trouble in." he laughed, his whole face lighting up for split second.

Katie's heart skipped a beat. "Like Logan?" she suggested, grinning when Scott smirked.

"Yeah. He does put a bit of a damper on everyone's mood whenever he enters a room."

Katie walked out of Scott's room smiling (though there was a part of her that wished it was using that phrase for an entirely different reason). She was rather proud of herself for being able to walk straight though, considering the way her knees had gone all weak... It had been an entirely satisfying evening, all together, actually understanding the math concepts, and learning a great deal about Scott in the process (his past, favorite color, favorite book, more small talk things like that). Course, his eyes had still been the best part, she thought with a sigh.


	30. Chapter 30: Right Away

Meanwhile, while Katie had been off on her Scott-venture, Nicole had gone to their room, to spend some very much-needed alone time with herself. Nicole had just settled comfortably on her bed for a bit of doodling in her sketchbook when someone knocked on the door. Groaning, she rolled from her bed and shuffled to the door. The knocking persisted impatiently. Standing in the doorway, Nicole pulled the door open with her mind, and who was it leaning on her doorframe but Logan, smirking as always. Great, what did the bastard want now? A nice, long make out session? Well, he had another thing coming. Nicole made an aggravated noise somewhere between a sigh and a groan. "What, do you want?" she snapped, giving him the best glare that she could muster.

Logan, rather thankfully for all involved, had the good taste not to say "you". Rather, he held up the school-selected romance novel teasingly (as in, a bit higher than her head). "You left this at dinner." he commented, flicking through the book. "Rather interesting choice for outside reading, isn't it?"

Nicole's face slowly turned the color of an over ripe cherry then quickly drained of all color. "Give that back!" she gasped, moving to snatch it, but Logan only held it up higher above her. She attempted to jump for it, but that landed her too close to him for her comfort, she jumped back and out of arm's reach, heart bounding unnecessarily hard and loud.

He laughed at her efforts, and only tightened his grip when she attempted to mentally wrest it from his hand. He chuckled once more and seemed to relax even more into the doorframe, looking quite at home.

"Give that back to me!" she repeated, clenching her fists so tightly that her fingernails formed half-moon indentations in the palms of her hands. Raising an eyebrow, the corners of Logan's mouth kicked up into that increasingly infuriating cross between a smile and a satisfied smirk.

"Now, now, lets not have this result in violence..." he chided, "Now, my question is... what would a respectable 15-16 year old girl such as yourself, want with a very untasteful book such as this?" he teased, eyes glinting teasingly.

She didn't answer right away, giving him a sort of look that said, she wouldn't mind it resulting in violence, if she got to throw him around a little. "I read some of this and-" He began, enjoying being able to make fun of her at his leisure (no classes to go to, no other teachers around, no Katie to make threatening faces at him).

Nicole gasped, loudly and on purpose. "You can read?"

Logan's eyes narrowed in annoyance. Stupid brat. "Yes. I can." he growled.

Nicole cocked an eyebrow, "That's a shocker." she snapped, examining her own fingernails idly, as if it didn't matter that he was in her doorway or not. When she looked up again, Logan's smirk had fixed itself back onto his face.

The book was open to the page that she had folded down, his eyes skimming over the page. The beginning of a sex scene. Nicole felt all of the air being knocked out of her as if he had smacked her. "Don't...!" she began.

"Oh my..." he said softly, blue eyes flicking up from the page and onto her face, they were dark with the beginnings of arousal. "This is a naughty book..." he purred, "You left off right here? I wonder why you stopped...?"

"Logan, give it back!" She squealed, reaching out to take it.

He yanked it back, raising an eyebrow. "Why should I?"

"Because... because..." She trailed off, trying to think of a good something to say. 'because I told you to' definitely wouldn't work, neither would 'because I want it', and 'because I'll beat you up' was worst of all. He smirked again, slowly, with eye contact, in that way of his that made her want to either smack it off, or kiss it off, his face.

The latter was more preferable but given her emotional state since the last time that happened, she wasn't keen to try it again, and the first would get her in big trouble. He was bigger & stronger than she was, practically one step into her room, and no one was around. Not a good combination. She settled for, "Because I need it, Logan." she growled, frowning and trying to radiate negative energy, she didn't want this conversation to dissolve into a useless moan into his mouth. _Did _she?

Still smirking, he cocked his head to the side, examining her. "Oh, you _need _it. For what, may I ask?"

"For school," she shot back, crossing her arms across her chest, doing her best to stare back at him, without centering her eyes on his mouth. He raised an eyebrow at her. "Reading sex scenes instead of paying attention in class?" His eyes were nearly boring into her, and Nicole fought the urge to look away, though she blinked freely.

Blushing, she sniffed in indignation, "That is something you would do during school Logan, I actually pay attention in my classes." she snapped, clenching her teeth when his smirk crept ever further across his face. His eyes were laughing at her. It was a lie. Lately, all she had been daydreaming about was... "Logan," she growled dangerously, "That is my assigned book from my English course. Now, give it back!"

He looked a bit surprised. "You're reading this for English?" he commented, looking back down at the earmarked page, scanning the rather descriptive passages (a part of him not reading, but wondering what it would be like to try this out on Nicole...).

"Yes!" She frowned at him, wanting her book back before he read anymore (and got any ideas). "Now give it back!"

"No..." he said softly, giving her a look that reminded her a lot like herself when her mother told her to stop reading romance novels and read her summer reading book, annoyed and curious.

"Why are you guys reading this for English?" he questioned. Now he was buying himself time. The longer he could stay and talk to Nicole… well, the longer he'll try to avoid wanting to do it again. She furrowed her brows while she folded her arms over her chest, bringing to Logan's attention the logo on her shirt. FREE HUGS. He fought the urge to laugh and dragged his attention back to her face.

"Because the teacher told us to." Nicole replied, deciding that the shorter the explanation, the better.

"Do you always do what the teacher tells you to?" Logan inquired, the arousal that she'd noticed in his eyes before somewhat more noticeable now. Nicole went to give him a 'what the hell do you mean by that' look, only to realize he was suddenly quite a bit closer than she remembered... Blinking up at him, she did her best to resist jumping backwards, or leaning in closer.

"No." She finally declared, eyes centered on his.

His lips spread into that annoyingly slow smirk, his eyes flicked to her lips then back up to meet her eyes. "Good." he purred.

Nicole jumped when she felt the warmth of his hand pressed flat against the small of her back pulling her closer. She drew in a sharp, surprised breath. "Don't!" she blurted, too late.

He dove in and stole yet another passionate kiss from her lips, his soft satisfied growl vibrating between their lips. Her own fingers betrayed her and curled into his thick hair. He pressed her length against his own, his teeth drawing out her bottom lip and sucking gently. She moaned, and then his lips and body were gone from her. "Teachers always love a good challenge."

Nicole stood there, not exactly gaping at him but close enough. It wasn't that it had completely surprised her (in a way she'd been expecting it), but he'd still managed to completely floor her, and so she stood there, flabbergasted and unable to think of anything to say. Her eyes were unfocused, misty, knees trembling, hand pressed to a mouth both red and a bit swollen...

They might have stood there, watching each other silently, for quite some time, had not they heard the waltzy footsteps and happy but slightly off key humming of Katie coming to bed. Giving her one last satisfied, conquering smirk and leaving the book at her feet Logan swaggered off nonchalantly, pulling out a cigar & matches as though this was an entirely normal evening.


	31. Chapter 31: Afterglow

Nicole kneeled down and snatched up her book, opening it hid her face with it as Katie came into view. Puzzled, Katie eyed Nicole suspiciously, she was kneeling on the ground with her face hidden behind her book. "Er... Nicole? Is the book that interesting that you don't even bother walking into the room to read it?" she mumbled, still confused, as her head was full of bits of fluff and memories of blue eyes and math concepts.

Nicole peeked over the book's edge, and nodded silently, but got up and walked into the room, continuing to have her face behind the book. "So um... how was your tutor-session-thing?" Nicole asked as she sat on her bed and peeked oddly over the edge of her book.

Katie let out a great sigh, and flopped over onto her own bed, melting into a puddle of goo. "It was amazing."

Nicole rolled her eyes. "Why don't I think you're talking about polynomials."

Katie, safe and ecstatic on Cloud 11, didn't notice Nicole's less than enthusiasm. "OMGNicoleISawHisEyes!" Katie squeaked, everything slurring together. "ItWasWickedCool!"

Nicole blinked, jaw dropping along with the book, which fell with a 'plunk' onto the floor. She gaped with her red, swollen lips, mouthing words that didn't come to her throat. "No you didn't." she croaked in awe.

Katie, grinning dreamily, nodded. "Yes, I did." She bubbled, her voice choked with excitement.

If it was possible, Nicole's jaw dropped open a little wider. "But, how come he didn't..." she blustered, motioning laser beams shooting from her eyes wildly with her hands, adding a sound affect that sounded a lot like, 'Shhweeoosh' for good measure.

"Because he has these special shades (window shades!) in his room... so he can take his glasses off without going all-" Here Katie (affecting a how-could-you-not-know? sort of tone, because she could) attempted to re-create Nicole's wild gestures and amusing sound effects (she got the motions right, but her noise was more of a weeoooshh).

Nicole gasped again, mouth dropping a bit lower. "What color are they???"

"Blue!" Katie squeaked again, looking extraordinarily excited. "A really pretty blue..." Here Katie partially sat up, and tapped her temple knowingly at Nicole, calling up the best mental image she could of Scott right after he'd taken off the glasses.

After tapping into Katie's mind, Nicole smiled in the same dreamy fashion as Katie. "Aaawwww... he's so cute!" she sighed, fluttering her eyelashes teasingly in Katie's direction.

Katie sighed and lay down on her comforter, curling up into a comfy ball and continuing to grin like mad. "Yeah, AND after he was done going over the stuff that we've been doing in Math... he told me about himself. He had just a horrible childhood... but he turned out alright... so... yeah." she trailed off into a mushy gooey lovey-dovey mess. "So," Katie quickly changed the subject, "What's with the..." she motioned her lips, "It looks like you got in a fight with a vacuum cleaner."

Nicole's happy, he's-so-adorable look faded almost immediately, and she sighed, face a picture of mixed emotions. "Logan came by... I left my book at dinner and he decided to return it." Her voice lost whatever joyful or remotely happy quality, and was something of a monotone.

"And decided to return it with a kiss?" Katie offered, with a bit of a sinking feeling. Stupid Logan, playing with Nicole's affections.

"Yes, I suppose that was the basic gist." Nicole droned, her fingers coming up to brush her lips, "I must have left it at dinner, and he did that 'haha you are below me and therefore that gives me the right to make fun of you' thing... saying that the book was sketchy and that I was a bit young to be reading it blah blah blah... and then I told him that it was for English and he asked why we were reading it and I told him, because the teacher told us to. Then he went and pulled the "do you always do what you're told?' line and I tried to be firm, I said No. But he kissed me anyway! Ooh he's so..." she trailed off, the old anger failing to come into her voice. She only came off as sounding like an extremely confused Colie.

"Sexy? Manly? Demanding? Unable to follow the rules? Attempting to toy with your emotions to win your little dominance battle?" Katie offered ticking off things that Logan could be on her fingers.

Nicole made a muffled noise of protest. "But... arrrg..." She trailed off into incoherency.

"You find yourself enjoying it, don't you? You don't want to, but whenever you see him, you wonder if he'd going to kiss you again, and you want him to want to." Katie continued, quoting from the mental version of her 'Confusing Emotions for Dummies' book.

"No..." Nicole tried to protest. "No I do not want him to... to..."

"Stop?" Katie offered, blinking at Nicole knowingly.

"That's not what I was going to say..." Nicole said, looking away. "I don't want him to kiss me anymore... it's hard enough to... to..." She stuttered again.

"Be falling in love with him when you're not supposed to like him at all?" Katie offered again, smiling sympathetically. Poor Nicole. At least Katie's infatuatee had some sense of morals, and didn't like her back.

Nicole made a pained face. "I'm not falling in love with him; I'm just physically attracted to him! Seriously, do you think he gives me any reason to fall in love with his personality?" she said in a tone of extreme denial.

Katie raised a quizzical brow, "Well... no but... you have to admit... you do have some sort of feelings that come along with the physical attraction.." she prodded, trying to get Nicole to open up and admit her feelings before it was too late. She often made a habit of discovering her true feelings after said person she had feeling for gives up on her. But in this case, it would be better if said person would shrivel up and die rather than toy with Nicole's emotions in order to attempt to dig up his own then dump her.

"No... No I don't..." Nicole muttered, as though trying to convince herself.

Katie resisted the urge to sigh. Poor Nicole... it would be so much better for her emotional health if Logan just fell off a cliff or vanished for a month or two. Unfortunately, he was more likely to keep springing these torture-kisses on her every now and then, until he managed to get in her pants. And that was not an acceptable outcome. However much Nicole would enjoy it. Yes, Logan would seem to be the type to lurk around a girl and keep springing surprise torture kisses, as sorts of 'reminders' that they belong to him. Like a stalker. Only, he makes himself known to the world and everyone in it. "Nicole..."

"No no no. I DON'T!" Nicole burst, covering her ears.

Katie sighed and rolled her eyes at Nicole. Nicole was definitely the mature one, wasn't she? But, Katie couldn't help but pity her friend. It was one thing to have an infatuation for someone, especially the sort of person who would not put one in such a morally compromising situation, and entirely another to be stalked by a sexually motivated sketchy man in scary sideburns.

Katie shivered, if Logan was after her... she most definitely would tell someone. Unfortunately, Nicole was the type of person (somewhat like herself with her Math situation...) who didn't like to admit that she needed help. Not that Logan was stupid enough to actually physically force his way into Nicole's pants. He knew what she could do when she was extremely angry.

- - -

Scott, sitting at his desk idly, with nothing to really do but think (he wasn't in the mood for sleeping just yet), was rather surprised to find a small smile on his face. It had been absolute torture sitting so very close to her, close enough to reach out and touch her face, or even to have kissed her, if he had dared, but he'd enjoyed it.

The smile on his face broadened when he remembered the shocked look on Katie's face when he had begun to take his sunglasses off. The surprise that shone in her eyes when she looked into his, without the barrier of ruby crystal between them, the flattering blush that crept up her cheeks. He sighed in an almost melodramatic way.

She'd looked so cutely awkward standing there, trying not to stare. He traced a random shape on the wood of his desk with his finger, still smiling. Apparently she thought he looked nice with and without the glasses... and that was, for a rather obvious reason, extremely important to him. He heaved another sigh, nearly as melodramatic as before. It would be so much easier to deal with his feelings if only she wasn't such a good-looking, well-meaning, good person.

Scott groaned, hiding his face in his hands. Damn. These tutoring sessions were just going to make things worse! "I don't know if I can handle this for much longer..." he whispered into his hands. Yes, he had been handling it quite well until that night in her room... and that dream.

Granted, it still had been hard to deal with before that happened. There was a limit somewhere, and he sure hoped that he would be able to get this situation under control before he crossed the line and did something that he would regret. It's hard, trying to keep a lid on one's feelings, when the object of your affections is around all of the time. However, if he was to just simply avoid her it would be torture. The nagging voice at the back of his mind laughed at him very meanly, _Women, can't live with them, can't live without them. Eh, Scottie?_

Unfortunately, that nasty inner voice was entirely correct. He couldn't stand to be around her, but he couldn't stand to stay away either. Sighing entirely melodramatically this time, he got up to finally go to bed. He would dream of her, it was certain, but at least in dreams he didn't have to worry about losing his job if he touched her, even if they made things worse. Oh, things would be so much easier if she would simply do something terribly unlovable, but that wasn't going to happen.


	32. Chapter 32: Ready For The Rain

Arch twitched his wings, feathers ruffling sleepily. He was sitting nearby his usual group of friends, the seat next to him obviously and rather flagrantly marked as "saved" with his bag. He was also halfway to grabbing a muffin when Bobby (late) attempted to sit there. "No! You can't sit there..."

Bobby just sighed as he found a nearby chair to plop in. Arch was a good friend, but completely and utterly hopeless when it came to the opposite sex. Not that Bobby was any great shakes there himself... he'd though he was, great understander of women, until Nicole came along.

Now, he wasn't so sure. "Do you really think she's going to sit with you? She didn't yesterday."

Arch sent him a shut-up!-it-wasn't-her-fault-someone-sat-there-first sort of look, though the seat had been vacant when Katie'd shown up. "'Course she will."

Bobby shook his head, turning to look out at the sunny Saturday morning sun that shone through the leaves of the trees outside on the grounds. The colors of the leaves were just beginning to turn. They were early, as it they were nearing mid-September. Today was the ninth. Bobby sighed again; his and Arch's problems were basically the same. Although... Nicole actually sat with him when he saved her a seat.

But then, he typically didn't follow Nicole around much either. He'd rather have her come to him, but... she seemed to be content to have a rather on/off sort of relationship. If you could call it that. So his mood brightened considerably when the object of his convoluted affections appeared, looked around, and chose to sit with him. Jumping up, he smiled at her, trying not to look too eager as he took the books he'd been using to save the seat, off.

Nicole yawned hugely turning away from Bobby momentarily, as she picked out a chocolate chip muffin. Bobby smiled. Nicole was cute in the morning, all ruffled, sleepy, and prone to saying stupid things.

"G'morning Bobby." She said softly, giving him a smile before nibbling on the top of her muffin.

"Morning." he replied, unable to wipe the mushy smile from his face, brushing a lock of hair from out of her face, enjoying the feel of the curl between his fingers. "Sleep well?" he asked tentatively, peering at her face in an attempt to guess at her mood. As usual, it was hard to tell exactly what she was thinking or feeling.

She sighed, putting down her beloved daily muffin, "No. I kept waking up between dreams." she moaned. However, she wasn't going to let Bobby know the nature of said dreams... She'd kept forcing herself to wake up in an attempt to make the dream go away. But just like the person the dream involved, it was persistent and refused to leave her be.

Logan, sitting down rather moodily in his usual chair, caught sight of that damned Ice-Cube brushing the curl of hair out of her face. He looked away almost immediately, feeling something unpleasant clench in his stomach.

Bobby gave a small, sympathetic sort of sigh, patting Nicole on the shoulder. "That's too bad," he murmured, knowing how Nicole hated to be short of sleep. There was a brief, but nice sort of silence as she picked her muffin back up and continued nibbling away at it groggily. "Think we're going to get our math tests back Monday?" Bobby inquired, not wanting to bring up one of Nicole's weaker subjects, but not wanting the conversation to die either.

"I hope not." Nicole muttered darkly into her muffin, tearing a considerably large chunk out of it.

Bobby smiled sympathetically, "Nicole, you're going to choke if you take huge bites like that." he said, unable to suppress the surge of boyfriend-ly concern. He had wrapped his arm around her shoulder after patting her, and he took this time to stroke the side of her face.

She looked away, a faint blush on her cheeks. "I'll be fine Bobby." she looked up and she smiled. To Bobby's surprise, she leaned into him, resting her head against his chest. "Thank you for caring though." she mumbled.

Bobby's heartbeat quickened and he quickly snuck a side-glance in Logan's direction. Logan's jaw was practically on the floor. _ Ha. Try and seduce her from me now, you fur ball_.

Logan tried to look away, not really wanting to see Nicole cozy up to the 16-year-old loser who couldn't kiss, but it was like watching a car crash: he just couldn't look away.

Nicole, feeling somewhat warm and fuzzy on the inside, did not notice Logan's mental torture; in fact she was doing her best not to notice his existence at all. Maybe, if she just tried her very hardest to ignore him, he might possibly go away? Or at least leave her alone?

The same concept went with Bobby. Perhaps if she spent more time with Bobby and less with Logan, she would start to like Bobby better. Hopefully. Bobby was a really good guy. Caring, considerate, gentle, kind, funny (and inexperienced, though it was a tad bit more comforting when your partner didn't know what to do right along with you. Instead of standing there and allowing your partner to do whatever he wanted and just taking it and not knowing what to do...) ... everything that Logan wasn't. Besides, Bobby was warm. And cuddly. Like a puppy. Puppies were much nicer than vicious, mangy, strays.

Though the vicious, mangy strays kiss really well... a rather mean voice at the back of her mind tried to interject before Nicole squashed it. She should not be thinking about that right now. She should be thinking about something... more pleasant. Like having Bobby kiss her again or something. Just not the way she'd liked it when that mangy stray had kissed her. The way she'd found herself moaning into him, and the way her hands had buried themselves in his hair... No! Why was she thinking about that? It had been enough with the inescapable dream...

For now, she concentrated on Bobby. Despite his 'mutant name' he wasn't cold at all. In fact, the hand that ran up and down her arm slowly was warm and pleasant. The only thing cold about him was his breath, but only when he was using his powers. She could hear him breathing in, and out... in, and out, and could feel the steady throb of his heartbeat beneath her cheek. She sighed. Yes, if she thought about it, it was very nice in Bobby's arms... but it didn't have that same spark. She mentally kicked herself and tried to push the comparisons from her mind completely.

Just as Nicole felt the pit of her stomach drop at the realization that Logan was watching her and Bobby's cuddle, Katie decided to show up and distract her.

Katie walked in, a bounce in her step and her outfit looked carefully planned compared to Nicole's destroyed pair of comfy jeans that had their fair share of rips and holes, quotes written with sharpies and little hearts and random doodles all over them and her plain red t-shirt that was so old that it had faded to more of a rose color and the hem rode up whenever she moved, flashing her navel and a small strip of skin.

No, Katie looked as if it were a school day, her black skirt wrinkle free, save for the strategic purposeful ruffles that were supposed to be there, her fish net stockings were fray free, her red top was perfect and lacy (as usual), and her eyeliner well applied and smudge free. Compared to Katie, Nicole looked like crap. Well, that's how she felt anyway, even though Nicole's outfit suited her nature and looked good despite... But that's a girl for you, always envying other girls and never stopping to notice that she looks good as well.

Arch, looking up at his infatuee's rather dramatic entrance, felt his heart skip a beat. She flounced over to where he was sitting, gracing him with a small, but heartfelt (or so he thought) smile, blue eyes lighting up. "Hullo Arch," she murmured, taking the seat he rather eagerly offered delicately, smoothing out the edge of her skirt.

Nicole, next to Katie with their "significant others" on either side, (though they really weren't the most significant men in the girls' lives, which rather defeated the purpose), gave a small wave. "Good morning," Nicole muttered, feeling a bit overshadowed.

Nicole detached herself from Bobby, and Katie smiled, "It is a good morning, isn't it? A Saturday... and it's so nice and sunny... and..." she saw the look on Nicole's face and quickly shut up.

Nicole clearly wasn't in a sunny mood. Not that this was much of a surprise. Bobby laughed softly, shaking his head and returning to his, now cold, eggs. He traded them for some hot ones. Nicole was about to make a comment that went somewhere along the lines of not seeing why it was such a good morning, but decided not to when Arch immediately began to talk to Katie as if they hadn't spoken in 25 years.

Katie tried to keep up with him, feeling extremely bad for him inside. He really was a good person, and one she'd felt something for, some time ago, but he was just too overly earnest. It was cute, yes, but it grew old very quickly. And, to top off the guilty feelings (she'd liked him what, a week ago? It had been literally overnight... when she'd had that dream. After he'd kissed her. How could she be so fickle?), she found herself gazing into his bright blue eyes (more to be polite & make eye contact), and found them wanting. They just weren't as... as blue? As bright? As lovely as Scott's...

Scott sighed, attempting to pay attention to his coffee, but glanced over the rim of his mug at Katie and Arch, who were deep in conversation. At one point, Arch leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. Katie laughed and blushed. Scott bristled jealously. Suddenly, his eyes felt itchy, just a slight lift of the shades and... Zap. Problem solved, right? Wrong.

Looking back down at his coffee, Scott tried to concentrate on his drink. He really did not want to see if Arch leaned in and kissed her properly, did not need to see if Katie kissed him back... _if she moaned, if she whimpered, if she clung to him and opened her mouth_...

No! Taking another gulp of the hot liquid, he tried to keep his mind off of his rising jealousy. What would it be like, to have her look at him like that? Eyes shining and feeling in her face? To be able to touch her in public... kiss her... hold her, in front of others? To even be able to touch her at all? To have her want him to touch her?

As Scott sat in a hopeful daze while he gazed in Katie's direction longingly, he couldn't help but notice a flash of silver slightly to the right of his beloved. Nicole was absentmindedly fiddling with a silver dog tag that hung from a chain. Wait... wasn't that, Logan's?

Scott had a rather good idea that Logan hadn't just gone and given his dog tag to Nicole... first of all, even Logan wasn't stupid enough to be so obvious, and second Nicole would hardly take it. Besides, Scott had only seen Logan without it once, when it had been 'borrowed' by Sabertooth. Apparently Logan was feeling extremely oblivious today... it would have been rather hard for Nicole to be any more obvious. It also made Scott feel somewhat better to know that he was still a step above Logan.

The more likely case was that Logan must have dropped it without realizing it, and Nicole just happened to find it. The either a.) Didn't know that Logan went by the name Wolverine as an X-Man, or b.) Didn't think Logan deserves to get it back. Scott smirked into his muffin. If he were Nicole, he would definitely pick the latter. If Logan was dense enough to not realize that his dog tag was missing AND that Nicole had it and was toying with it at that very moment, then he didn't exactly deserve to get it back. He'd just lose it again.

Meanwhile, the rather interesting, misfit-sort of foursome were discussing their afternoon. "So, what do you guys want to do?" Bobby asked, arm hanging loosely about Nicole's shoulders.

Arch shrugged and Katie nodded (though it had not been a yes or no question), and Nicole yawned in reply. "I dunno... maybe we could go outside?"

Katie nodded enthusiastically, eyeing the grounds bathed in Saturday morning sun.

"Yeah, we'd better get out there now though. Forecast is rain for later on. We should make the best of the good weather now." Arch commented quietly, wings flexing nervously. He looked like he was itching to get out and stretch them.

So, with that, the foursome finished their respective breakfasts (though Arch ended up finishing the muffin of a not-very-hungry Katie) and gathered up their things, heading for the back of room.


	33. Chapter 33: Dancing Through Life

Weaving about the tables, Katie was hit by the sudden feeling, like a prickling across the back of her neck, that she was being watched (no, more like stared at)... She froze, looking around her. The feeling was gone almost as fast as it had come, but it still managed to unnerve her.

As the foursome stepped out from the dining hall and onto the grounds, Nicole took a deep breath of fresh air tinted with the scent of on coming rain. She shook her head. It was amazing that one man's cigar smoke could alter the smell of a large mansion. It was almost like at home... where everything smelled like her mother's cigarette smoke to the point that Nicole couldn't distinguish the smell from anything else. It was different here, in a good way.

"So, what would you guys like to do? We better get around to doing something before the rain sets in... I don't want to be sitting around playing the ' I dunno what do you want to do?' game for hours and then get rained on before we ever get around to doing anything!" she laughed, observing her friends, open for any suggestion.

Bobby grinned. "Let's go skating."

"But, there isn't any ice-" Katie started, somewhat out of it as usual, before catching herself and blushing as red as one of the late-blooming flowers on a nearby bush.

Nicole nodded at Bobby. "Skating sounds fun." She'd used to take lessons, and was still rather good at it. Arch nodded along with Nicole, though Katie looked a bit more apprehensive, given that she was not so coordinated on the best of days, and balancing on knife blades, on ice, was not the best of days.

The grounds were fairly large considering the size of the mansion/school. For miles around it seemed, there were designated spots for the students to lounge around on the days with good weather. The sloping lawns at the front of the house were well kept with green springy grass, and littered with gatherings of magnificent old, twisted trees that lined the gravel drive. Where the foursome stood, behind the mansion, was completely dedicated to a large garden. The paved pathways that winded through the garden lead to the center, where a man-made pond the size of a swimming pool was situated, with its numerous fish and aquatic plants swaying in an invisible current beneath the pond's crystal clear water.

Ducks bobbed and paddled in the water at the very edges, always staying near enough to the water's edge in hope that passers by would toss out their left over scraps of food to them. They rippled the water's smooth surface, quacking serenely. Around the pond were many park benches and hedges, as well as many late blooming flower bushes. Beyond the garden lay a small orchard. In the small paths between each row of trees were plotted clearings decked with picnic tables and marble benches, for students who enjoyed to dine outside for lunch or during their free periods. The foursome made their way to the pond. Nicole, Katie, and Arch observing as Bobby neared the small body of water.

Sitting down on the edge of the pond, he held a hand an inch or so above the surface of the water. The surface grew a thin layer of frost which traveled in crystalline curls throughout the pond, ducks quacking in surprise and flying off and plants freezing as they swayed. The frost covering grew deeper, until the entirely pond was frozen from the surface to the bottom. Standing, Bobby smiled at his friends over his (rather spectacular) handiwork.

Katie tilted her head to the side slightly, observing Bobby's handiwork in a puzzled manner, while Arch and Nicole beamed.

"Cool." Nicole smiled, meaning it in the quite literal way. Bobby laughed, flushing a bright shade of pink.

Katie rolled her eyes, grinning in Nicole's direction. "Yes Nicole, ice is typically quite cool." she laughed.

Nicole scowled. "I know..."

Bobby chuckled at them, and then looked at each of his friends (and girlfriend, if he could call Nicole that, as he would so like to do). "So, who's first?"

Katie, who'd been somewhat puzzled about the largest missing piece in their plan, looked at him with a plainly confused face. "What? But we don't have skates!" Skates were rather essential to good ice skating, after all.

Bobby's grin never faded from his face, "If I may, I would like to choose an assistant from the audience to answer your question, Katie." Bobby declared in a louder, theatrical voice. He then made a show of sizing them all up. "Hmm... would the young lady in the faded red t-shirt step up please?" His voice carried loudly throughout the backyard so that a few emo looking students who had situated themselves at some picnic tables nearby, looked up.

Nicole pretended to look surprised, skipping up to stand at Bobby's side like a blushing beauty pageant contestant, and waving like an idiot to the 'audience'. Katie rolled her eyes, attempting to pretend that she didn't know them. She would have been fine with it if people weren't watching, staring open mouthed, pointing, and sniggering.

Bobby gestured grandly to the space at the edge of the pool, dusting it off and motioning for Nicole to sit there. She did, (somewhat) gracefully, crossing her legs demurely and giving him a peppy smile. Bobby knelt on the ground in front of her, ignoring the "whispered" comments. Taking a hold of one of her shoes, he ran a hand along the bottom of the sole, leaving a thin, sharp, ice-blade edge. "I give you... ice-skates."

Nicole gasped in mock amazement and clapped enthusiastically. "Bravo! Amazing! How does he do it?" she cheered loudly. Now this was her kind of morning. Now it was a good morning. It was never a good day until someone made a fool of themselves at least once.

Bobby's grin widened, "Let's have round of applause for my lovely assistant Nicole." he called, clapping. Arch and Katie were the only ones to acknowledge the fact that he even had spoken, clapping somewhat unenthusiastically. Bobby sighed as the smile ran away from his face, "Right, C'mere Katie, Arch. I think I've made enough of a fool of myself... lets just get to skating before it starts to rain.." he mumbled slightly sullenly.

Katie and Arch complied, as everyone else decided that the foursome weren't terribly interesting anymore, and looked away, though one or two continued glancing upwards, wanting to see someone fall on their ass so they could laugh at them. Katie balanced uncomfortably at the side of the pool, feet planted best she could and hanging off of Arch for support, waiting for Nicole to demonstrate exactly how one was supposed to remain upright.

Nicole (for once this morning) looked as if she knew exactly what she was doing. She pushed off with the tip of one bladed foot, and glided on the other, then moving to the other foot until she found a rhythm. Gliding on one foot, and then the other, moving gracefully in a straight-line before abruptly swiveling so she was gliding backwards. Her arms were thrown out for balance, though she certainly didn't look as if she needed it.

Her back arched gracefully as she moved into a complicated looking spin, where she thrust out one of her legs mid-backward glide and pushed forward, swinging her leg around the other, crossing her arms over her chest and spinning so fast it looked as if he would spiral straight off of the ice and into the air. She ended it as soon as she had begun, looking off balance for a moment and somewhat dizzy.

Katie's jaw dropped. "Since when can you do moves like that?!" she hissed, completely confused as to how she was supposed to learn to follow Nicole's example if she was going to pull off stunts like that.

Nicole grinned, "When I told you I knew how to skate, I didn't exactly have to tell you that I knew how to do skating moves." she commented, surveying the slightly awed look on all of her friends faces. "What?"

Katie eventually got the hang of the whole skating thing, though not after quite a few intense falls (she'd be dotted with large, painful bruises later, and wasn't looking forward to it). Even then, she couldn't hold a candle to Nicole, but at least she stayed (mostly) upright. In the middle of one of her more graceful glides across the ice, it began to rain. No, not the light, barely noticeable drizzle most storms start with, but a right good downpour.

Katie promptly fell over, setting herself up for another bruise on her bottom and a rather wet skirt. "Fuck."

Matters only got worse when the fact that: Rain was warmer than Ice, finally sank in and the Bobby's masterfully crafted ice rink promptly melted and Katie was now sitting in the pond, fish trapped underneath her skirt. Everyone else was now up to their knees in muddy pond water, and Bobby had to help save a few fish which got stuck in the cuffs of his jeans and were wiggling in a desperate attempt to free themselves from their denim prison. The foursome spent some time ridding themselves of the poor fish before trudging soddenly up to the mansion. Upon entering, Nicole promptly shook her head like a dog, spraying the clean floor with flecks of muddy pond water.

"Blech!" Katie hacked, making a vaguely hairball-ish sounding noise. "Nicole, I'm wet enough! I don't need your wet too!" Giving Nicole a mock-resentful look, shivering rather violently in her non-weather-appropriate clothes, Katie began running a light current through her fingers trying to dry herself off.

Nicole ignored Katie's comment, instead suddenly running for the stairs. "I call the shower!!!"

"Agh Noooooo!" Katie called, ending in a whimper, hand outstretched at Nicole's retreating back. Though she did heartily snicker when Nicole promptly slipped and landed on her rump before continuing to scramble up the stairs

Nicole was met with more than a few questioning gazes, and a hell of a lot of openly pissed off bitchy Logan fan-girls shouting obscenities at her as she pushed them out of her way while she sprinted for the bathroom. Once inside the bathroom, she promptly locked the door, desperately wanting and needing privacy. However she had probably forgotten that it was lunch time anyhow so no one was about to be taking a shower when they wanted food so much more.


	34. Chapter 34: Anything For You

Lunch that day was grilled cheese and choice of soup, with the usual salad options and things out. Katie rather appreciated the whole soup thing, as she stood out in the line that had formed in the hall for entering the dining room (too many students jostling too much to fit through the doors at once). She was shivering pronouncedly, cold and wet and really not enjoying herself at that particular moment, with her freezing wet clothing sticking to her. "Goddamn, can't I just go in and get my frigging soup already?" she muttered to herself, making a small puddle where she was standing.

After receiving a large amount of weirded out glances and slightly miffed comments from the people who got wet from brushing against her in the jostle to enter the dining hall, Katie stormed moodily to the nearest seat available and sat down with a wet squelching sound, absolutely fuming. Damn Nicole for hogging the shower, Katie thought grumpily, snatching up a bowl and ladling some French onion soup into it, nearly sloshing it onto the tablecloth in her anger. Those who were on either side of her had moved down so as to not get wet, leaving spaces for at least 5 extra people between Katie and themselves in both directions.

" ... Katie? What in the hell…" Scott's voice was utterly confused behind her. Great. She was wet, muddy, had an inkling that a fish had gone to die in one of her shoes, and Scott was there to witness it all.

She turned around to look at him, brushing wet, somewhat muddy hair out of her face to do so. "Well, I was outside and it started raining and the ice we were skating on melted and I fell in, and now I'm really wet and Nicole beat me to the shower so I decided to just go eat lunch and take one later." She explained in a slight babble, doing her best to speak coherently (always a challenge) and trying not to whine too much, really wishing that he had decided not to come to lunch today.

Scott looked puzzled, and Katie briefly wondered what if his soft blue eyes conveyed the same adorable discombobulating that his face expressed around the expressionless glasses. Her stomach squirmed slightly when she remembered his eyes, and she struggled not to grin stupidly. Shaking his head, Scott smiled and sat down next to Katie, laughing softly. "You're adorable." he smiled, turning to look at her.

Katie did her absolute best not to completely melt into a puddle in front of him at those words, managing to keep her extremely pleased smile from taking up her entire face, though she was fainting on the inside. _He'd_ called _her_ adorable? Suddenly she didn't feel cold anymore, or wet, or ridiculous anymore. "Uh... Thanks?" she half-squeaked, unable to keep from blushing. Oh, today was suddenly a very, very, very good day...

The smile Scott fixed Katie with was slow and warm, a lot like melted chocolate, both were very pleasant and made Katie's insides squirm with delight. He chuckled while serving himself some French onion soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. "You're-" he paused wiping soup steam induced condensation from his shades with his sleeve before continuing, "Welcome." He looked over at Katie, taking in her slightly shivering form, "Katie, you look absolutely freezing... you should have at least changed into some drier, warmer clothes... You'll catch a cold." with this statement he poked her in the ribs affectionately.

"I am absolutely freezing," She replied, after a small, squeaky 'eeep!' at his poke, and a small, happy-sort of twitch. "And I didn't go and change because I'm an idiot and it never occurred to me," she finished, taking a slurping spoonful of her soup, and eyeing his sweatshirt rather enviously.

He certainly looked nice and cozy in it... It looked newish, still all nice and fuzzy, and was probably all warm and nice-smelling from being all close to him... She tried to pull her mind back to the half-conversation. Like she'd ever get a chance to cozy up in his clothes.

However, before Katie had enough time to even spare Scott and his snuggly sweatshirt another thought, said snuggly sweatshirt was pulled down over her, her head popping through the neck hole and the rest of the sweatshirt trapping her arms to her sides. Scott laughed outright at Katie's look of utter bewilderment, looking as frazzled as is she'd just been through a thunderstorm, some of the drier locks of loose hair frizzing and standing on end from the friction.

"Wha-?" She asked rather coherently, struggling to find the armholes so she could find her hands in all the extra sweatshirt.

Scott laughed at her again, smiling warmly as he did so. "I figured you needed more than I do right now."

She blinked at him somewhat puzzled, not getting why he'd want to lend his sweatshirt to her when it would just get all wet and muddy and icky, though she wasn't about to complain. Rather she just snuggled up in the warm fuzzy ness, taking a deep breath in. "MMmmmmm... Scott." She murmured to it, completely forgetting he was sitting next to her in the euphoria at wearing his sweatshirt, which was all nice and warm from his body heat, and which smelled so delightfully like him...

In a moment of total giddiness, Katie pulled the hood down over her face and snuggled into the sweatshirt, breathing deeply. Oh, he smelled lovely. Warm and sweet, very like oranges dipped in chocolate, as there was a citrus tang in the mix as well. "Mmm... you smell goood..." she mumbled into the sweatshirt. It came out sounding more like " MMmmm you smmmm goommmmm".

"Pardon?" Scott inquired, looking up and finally realizing that she had said his name.

Katie's face, blushing crimson, popped from the confines of his sweatshirt. "Nothing, never mind." she squeaked.

He smiled and shook his head at her, shrugging. "Alright..." He was rather curious about what exactly she'd said, but ah well. It was more amusing to see her enjoying his sweatshirt so, looking rather adorable while doing so. It made him feel rather good about himself as well. Its not like she was wearing someone _else's_ sweatshirt, was it? No, it was _his_, _she_ was wearing it, and she was _liking_ it.

Yes, liking it immensely. Scott felt a surge of tenderness for the girl, watching her roll up the sleeves at least six times until her hands became visible, and trying to judge how long it would be on her if she stood up. He chuckled when she began to eat her soup with much caution, as to not spill it on his sweatshirt. Even if she did, it's not like he would have minded... However, if it had been splattered with soup from Logan or someone of the like... he would have been very pissed indeed.

They continued their mutually adoring silence until the end of lunch, neither really trusting themselves to say anything more than 'pass the insert item here' without tripping up.

Getting up, with the sweatshirt falling to her knees, Katie flashed Scott a quick, pretty smile before skipping off as quickly as she could (wanting to run off before he asked for his sweatshirt back, as she definitely planned to sleep in it that night if she could get away with it), hoping Nicole would have gotten out of the shower by now.

Poking a head into her room, she found a rather conspicuous lack of Colie. Where had her friend gone? Surely she hadn't spent an hour in the shower? Katie flopped onto her bed to melt. If Nicole didn't show up in the next half an hour, Katie'd send out a search party, but until then she had time to moon over her adorable math teacher.


	35. Chapter 35: More

As she exited the shower, Nicole sighed happily, feeling warm and comfortable. The heat of the shower had lessened the pain in her legs and rump after that spill that she took on her way up. Humming her own little tune to herself, as she looked around her face fell, good mood vanishing instantly as she realized she had forgotten her clothes. "Damn it! ... I am not wearing my dirty clothes... that would defeat the purpose of taking a shower in the first place!" she growled, snatching up her only article of 'clothing' that she could wear, the dog tag, and put it on, grumbling. "Have to walk down the hall half clad... stupid... grrr..."

Tying the towel around herself as tightly as she could, not wanting it to start slipping halfway to her room (though she'd finally remembered it was lunch time as her stomach had started rumbling, and doubted anyone would be in the halls). Unlocking the door and opening it somewhat cautiously, she stepped out into the hall with the dog tag clearly visible and a bundle of soaked clothes tucked under one arm. Goosebumps rose on her skin as she slunk down the hall, looking this way in that... the only thing that she had to worry about was that if someone were to-

Logan's face appeared as he ascended to the head of the stairs. Nicole froze. Great. Well, at least this time she had something over her breasts.

He paused at the top of the stairs, looking her over unashamedly and entirely obviously. When his eyes returned to her face, he quirked an eyebrow at her. "We've got to stop meeting like this," he commented snidely, with a broad and infuriatingly sexy smile.

Nicole's face flamed red. How dare he look at her like that? As if she was a piece of meat... She frowned, "Yes we do. And you should start sexually harassing someone your own age, but that won't happen anytime soon, so I won't get my hopes up about never being walked in on by you." she growled, hoping to wipe that infuriating smile from his face.

The smile, however, stayed put. Apparently Logan didn't feel like actually listening to the words that her mouth made, he just enjoyed watching them move. Logan, true to what Nicole had thought, wasn't paying much attention to what she had said. It was obvious Nicole liked what he did to her, or else she would have turned him in (or at least that was what he thought, justifying said "sexual harassment' to himself). She really did have nice lips though, when they weren't yelling at him, and they tasted good too... His eyes roamed down her face and neck again, and for the first time he noticed the chain looped about it. _That looks familiar_...

Recognition cracked over Logan's head like a raw egg, realization seeping down into his brain in small cold trickles. She was wearing his dog tag. But... where did she get it? Logan stared at the chain in shock, noting subconsciously that the dog tag was out of sight, lost in her cleavage no doubt. Nicole was shouting now, trying to get his attention. Logan's face fixed itself into an angry glare, "What?!" he demanded, not having caught a single word that she had been saying.

Nicole scowled, "I said, Logan you perverted slime ball, what are you staring at?!"

He looked back up at last, making eye contact. He watched as her own eyes lost some of their anger, growing apprehensive, as his own eyes darkened with a 'mystery emotion' and his mouth curled into a thoughtful smile. She'd never give him the tag if she had any idea that he wanted it back, and he did not, in any stretch of the imagination, want to hurt her for it, so he'd have to use some other method of persuasion...

"Logan? Logan! Why are you looking at me like that? Logan!?"

The smile on Logan's face widened as he caught the sound of her heart beating more and more rapidly as he approached. Hmm... Perhaps he could have a little fun with this... As the distance between Nicole and himself began shrinking, she took small steps backward. He could feel the panic and apprehension radiating from her, and had to force down his amused chuckle.

Nicole's face flushed and her eyes took on that familiar virginal innocence that he'd witnessed only once before. That night with Candy. She attempted to avoid his eyes but failed, instead flicking between his eyes and his lips.

He chuckled, licking his lips just to disturb her. It worked, and she blushed. For every small step that she took backward, he took a larger one forward. She wouldn't get away from him. It was almost as if she deliberately took small steps to allow him to catch up, and that he did, pinning her against a wall. With a soft gasp she dropped the wet bundle of clothing she'd been carrying. "Don't..."

This time he did chuckle, though it managed to sound a great deal more sexy and seductive than any chuckle had any right to sound. Reaching out, he gently (gasp! a first) ran his fingertips over her neck, as she tried to tilt it away from him. "You know you enjoy it..." He murmured, grinning at her from much, much too close up.

Nicole whimpered softly, desperately trying to mentally deny his words. _I don't... I don't... _she whimpered mentally, but she was interrupted by one of her more nasty inner voices, Oh_, but you do... oh, so very much... _"Stop... please." she began, but all memory of the rest of her sentence dissolved into mush in her mind as Logan replaced his fingertips with his mouth. Trailing soft kisses down her neck.

"Now, now... you don't seriously want me to stop, do you..?" he purred, trying to restrain himself from ripping the towel from her trembling from. Patience wasn't exactly his forte.

"y- n- yes! Yes... I do..." she managed to squeak out, trying to fight with herself. Because, not all that far deep down, she desperately wanted him not to stop. Desperately wanted him to yank off her towel and take her now, in the hallway. But she couldn't let him know that. He had too much power over her already... Taking a deep breath, closing her eyes and trying to pretend that he wasn't sending pleasant shivers throughout her entire body, she suddenly remembered that conversation she'd had with Katie about Logan... Concentrating best she could with him on top of her, she took a giant step backwards, falling through the wall.

There was a great THWACK, as Logan's head, which had been resting comfortably against Nicole's warm neck, smacked into the wall painfully. "Fuck!" He cursed through clenched teeth, clapping his hands over his throbbing forehead. In the confusion of pain, he reached out and groped the air where Nicole had been, attempting to work out what had happened, when he heard hurried footsteps behind the wall. Pressing his ear to the wall, he could hear her pacing and her soft muttering in the room beyond. Damn, now he'd have to use a more forceful method of persuasion... perhaps if he could tackle her to the ground, he could wrest it from her and then be done with it...

Fumbling with his belt for his keys, he tried to match the numbers on the door to the tiny numbers printed on what (he thought now, trying to sort through what felt like a ridiculous number of them) felt like keys that were much too small. "Fuck!" he muttered again, using both as a curse to vent his frustration, and a verb to express what was on his mind. Finally finding it, he shoved the key in the lock, and yanked open the door, only to find her disappearing through the wall on the left. "Fuck!"

Fuming, he ran to the next room and threw himself into the door, not bothering with the keys. When it opened he was just in time to see her towel flapping teasingly at him before disappearing through the wall. All the way down the hall this wild goose chase ensued. Logan always bursting into the room just as she ran right through the opposite wall. There had been one instant where she'd just run in, and he stepped in cautiously and extending his hand out to her like one would to cajole a frightened animal into coming closer. The instant he had moved, however, she ran like a startled deer through the next wall before he could even reach out to grab an arm, leg, anything he could reach.

Swearing to himself, panting, he paused outside of a door, listening to her footsteps. She'd run to the other side of the room, turned back ready to see him run in after her, and was obviously confused to why he hadn't. Carefully, he reached out a hand, quietly as possible, waiting for the opportune moment. If he surprised her, he had a better chance of catching her than if they just played tag all afternoon...

Lunging through the door, with something of a melodramatic _Ha! _and expecting her to be standing in the middle of the room- he stopped short. There was no one in this room, just a lone, wet towel crumpled on the floor in the middle of the room. What? She could have gone in any direction she wanted- He dashed out of the room, before realizing the next room over was his own. She'd obviously not be in there, that'd be a stupid thing to do. He sighed, giving up. If she wanted to wander around the school naked, it wasn't his problem.

- - -

Muffling a rather loud squeak that would have given her away, Nicole promptly dove into the closet of the room that she had come to a halt in, completely and utterly, naked. Once inside, Nicole, being the queen of grace, promptly got her foot snagged on some loose clothing on the bottom of the closet and fell over. Her fall was cushioned by a large pile of shirts and pants that had most likely fallen from their hangers and lazily left there on the bottom of the closet. She herself did this quite often, so she wasn't anyone to judge.

Nicole shut the door behind her, lest the owner of the room decided to walk in and look in his or her closet to find a quite naked Nicole sprawled inside of it. In the dark, Nicole sighed, groping for a shirt to maintain her dignity when she sprinted to her own room in order to put on some of the clothes that she should have brought with her to the bathroom before she took a shower. Judging from the size of the shirt, the owner of the room was male. Great. That's just what she needed, for McCoy, Scott, or Nightcrawler to waltz in and open his closet to find her sitting at the bottom of it, wearing his shirt...

Nicole smoothed out the shirt, figuring out which way was up, and front, before yanking it over her head. It was technically a button up, but was large enough that she didn't need to bother. Once it was safely covering most of her lady bits, she moved to get ready to stand back up... and paused. Lifting the collar of the shirt to her nose, she sniffed deeply. MMmm. This shirt smelled really, really good. It wasn't a very "fancy" smell, more simple, but undeniably masculine. Warm, somewhat like sweat, spicy... just extremely masculine. Sniffing it again, she smiled to herself. Yum. It also smelled rather familiar... who did she know that smelled like that?

Nicole leaned into the wall of the closet sighing and breathing in the scent deeply. Whoever this shirt belonged to wasn't getting it back in this lifetime. It smelled way too good to return. She fully intended to sleep in it every night for the rest of her life, trying to imagine what man could possibly smell that good. Sighing, Nicole folded the collar down and prepared herself to get out of the closet and sprint for her room, but before she could even push the door open, she saw through the cracks between the wooden blinds that made up the door a figure entering the room groaning softly and rubbing his head. She froze, scrambling to back behind the clothes (sort of pointless since one could still see her legs poking out from the hanging clothes...) and trying to be as quiet as she could.

Managing to cover up as much as she could, she gave up and froze as the door to the closet opened. Her head was behind a shirt and she couldn't see who it was, though she did see the hand reach out to rummage around not ten inches from her head. Grabbing the first shirt she could find, Nicole handed it to the man, oblivious to the fact that if they hadn't noticed her already, they wouldn't, and closets don't hand things to people.

Apparently he was oblivious as well. "Thank you," he commented, taking the shirt.

"You're welcome," she replied politely, before clapping a hand over her mouth. How stupid could she be!

It only took the man a split second to realize that closets don't a.) hand you things and b.) say 'you're welcome.' before he pulled Nicole from the closet by her wrist with one yank. "Ah!" she gasped, fidgeting and holding the shirt down so it wouldn't ride up and give the man a nice flash of her nether regions before he could even figure out who she was.

She found herself being held a few feet from the ground by the wrist by none other than Logan. Nicole couldn't help but gape. She was wearing... Logan's shirt? If she had absolutely no sense, she would have ripped the shirt from herself to avoid contamination; however she had a lot more sense than even Nicole thought she had, and the shirt stayed on. More from the need of protection and warmth than from it happening to be Logan's shirt. It was also a plus that it smelled excellent.

"Any reason why you're hiding in my closet?" he inquired, eyebrow rising slightly.

Nicole blushed, "Well..., I didn't know that it was your closet. And... And I needed... something... to cover myself... I dropped my towel..."

Logan fought the urge to comment that she really didn't have any need for clothing; she'd be perfectly fine without them. Keeping his grip on her wrist, he reached out with the other hand to gently brush her hair away from her neck. Allowing his fingers to slowly drift downwards he hooked them in the chain of the dog tag, which with a quick yank removed the chain from her neck. Dangling the tag in front of her, dragging her in closer, he fingered it, grinning slowly at how warm it had gotten from being pressed in between her breasts. "I believe this is mine?"

Nicole flushed a light pink, but her lips twitched upward as though very reluctant in showing her amusement. "I guess so..." she mused in a thoughtful tone, shrugging awkwardly given her position, and her eyes swept the room before making eye contact with him once more. Her face was the very epitome of forced calm.

Logan could feel her heart fluttering beneath his shirt that she wore, warmed by her bare skin beneath. This thought in mind, Logan fought the urge to jump or groan when she shifted one of her legs restlessly in discomfort from her hanging position, brushing accidentally up his leg.

"Uhmm... my wrist is sort of getting numb..." she mumbled.

Deciding that it was probably best for his sanity if he let go, (or else he'd end up trying to jump her bones, and from the look of things she probably wouldn't enjoy it too much), Logan shrugged offhandedly at her, and let go, making a big show of not caring in the least if she wasn't pressed up against him.

While making a display of ignoring her existence and forcing down the thoughts that ran along the lines of reasons why he would've liked for her to be in his room in an attempt to prevent arousal, Logan stripped out of his shirt, pulled on a more comfortable, fresh one and slipping into a worn pair of old jeans. More out of curiosity than anything else, he slid a glance over his shoulder to see Nicole turn away quickly, pretending to observe her surroundings. Somewhere within himself he felt a sort of self satisfaction that she had watched.

He turned to see Nicole observing his room, running her fingers along the bed covers up the length of his bed and patting one of his pillows as if to fluff it. She promptly sat down and bounced slightly, "Comfy." she stated offhandedly as she bounced.

He raised an eyebrow at her, moving to lean against his closet door, more to keep himself occupied than anything. Oh, it was just cruel. Here she was, in his room, alone with him, wearing nothing but his shirt, and she had to go bouncing on his bed... Goddamn, was she trying to turn him on? "I'm glad you like it." he commented dryly.

Thinking back, Nicole couldn't help but laugh as she bounced when she remembered Katie's 'lonely bed' comment that she had made some time ago. Well, she thought, At least she didn't have a big, lonely bed. That would make if not much worse. Logan's brow raised a few millimeters, "What, is so funny?" he accused.

Nicole blushed, looking up with wide eyes. "Nothing! Nothings funny... just... thinking..."

"About anything in particular?" Oh, this wasn't going well, was it? Now she was even making suggestive comments. For her own good it would be best for her to leave sometime extremely soon, before he got really aroused. Because then, given the circumstances and his general disregard for the law, her virginity would be much less than safe.

"Not really... Beds." Nicole blurted, looking anywhere other than Logan. She ceased in her bouncing and smoothed his shirt over her lap idly.

"Beds." Logan repeated dryly, raising both of his eyebrows now in amusement. God, this conversation was going way down hill.

Nicole nodded, "it's nothing, someone made a comment about 'lonely beds' before and I was just thinking about it... and... yeah. I- I should probably go..."

"That would probably be a good idea." Logan replied, just as dryly as before, resisting the urge to add on an invitation to make his 'lonely bed' a great deal less lonely. Even if he did spend a rather scary amount of his free time sexually harassing her, he had more self-control than that. Regardless of how much he would have liked to jump her right now.

As he watched Nicole slowly get up and walk to the door, he mentally pleaded with her to not look back, not to give him the chance to take back sending her away and throwing her down onto his 'lonely' bed to make it far less lonely. As always (though she didn't exactly realize it) Nicole disregarded what he wanted and turned to face him, fiddling idly with the hem of his shirt. The bottom of Logan's stomach dropped.

"Uhm... do... you..?" she began motioning to the shirt, tugging at the hem.

Logan fought to keep the word "Yes!" from bursting from his lips before he heard what she was actually trying to ask him. She looked away blushing.

Logan had to fight to keep his stomach under control, as it had begun to flip flop and clench pleasantly, distracting him from the words that she spoke.

"Well... don't you want... well... your shirt...? I mean..." she stopped. "I'll give it back to you... later then?" she rushed.

Logan sighed, squeezing his eyes shut. He nodded "Yeah, that's fine." he mumbled, waving her off. The sooner she was out of his room the better.

"K... um... later."

Nicole walked out of his room rather slowly, as though trying to make a point about not wanting to leave because he wanted her to, though she dashed across the hallway to her room. This was an extremely awkward situation, coming out of Logan's room dressed only in his t-shirt. Why, if a fangirl happened to walk by... But, fortunately for Nicole, none did.


	36. Chapter 36: My Side Of The Story

Nicole walked out of his room rather slowly, as though trying to make a point about not wanting to leave because he wanted her to, though she dashed across the hallway to her room. This was an extremely awkward situation, coming out of Logan's room dressed only in his t-shirt. Why, if a fangirl happened to walk by... But, fortunately for Nicole, none did.

Nicole entered her room as swiftly as she could, turning her back to the room to check to see if anyone had seen her, and shut the door once she was sure that the coast was clear. The door clicked shut, and Nicole sighed in relief. Her relief was short lived however.

"Nicole?" Nicole flinched, turning to face Katie, who had a very peculiar look of both suspicion and amusement on her face, "Why are you only wearing a shirt..? You're not naked under that are you? And whose shirt is that?" she bombarded Nicole with questions, all of which Nicole was extremely reluctant to answer.

Nicole gave Katie a this-isn't-the-time-for-questions! sort of look. "Er... it's... Bobby's?" She offered the first guy name (other than Logan's) to pop into her head.

"What? Nicole!"

"No! no! That's not what I-"

"That's definitely not Bobby's short, Nicole, unless he grew a foot in the last hour. Whose is it and why were you banging them?"

"Katie! I did not bang anyone-"

Katie gasped, cutting off Nicole again. "Its not Logan's, is it??"

Nicole gaped, speechless. Unable to deny the truth but still willing to give it a try. "No! It's not Logan's! Why would I- I mean that's just ridiculous... With Logan? No...Besides... absolutely no banging went on... well... if you exclude the banging of the doors as he slammed them shut while he was chasing me... what with the running and the panting and the dropping of the towel... Oh dear, I've said too much haven't I?" Nicole babbled, rushing to the other side of the room to pull on some undergarments so that she felt halfway decent having a man's shirt on.

Katie's eyes were as wide as dinner plates. "Nicole, seriously... you didn't...? With Logan...?"

"No! I didn't!" Nicole protested, trying to find a pair of pants that would go somewhat with her man's shirt.

"Then why the hell are you naked with his shirt on?" Katie asked, semi exasperated. Why did Nicole insist on having such ridiculous escapades?

"Because- because-" Nicole tried to think of a more sane way to explain it, and failed. "Because he cornered me after I'd gotten out of the shower, and went all sexy on me but it was only to get his dog tags back, so I remembered what you told me and poofed through the wall, so he chased me, I ended up in his room, but I'd lost my towel, so I grabbed his shirt and then he came in to change and I handed him his shirt, he found me, I bounced on his bed for a bit-" Here Katie's eyebrows, which had been slowly creeping upwards, disappeared into her forehead. "And now here I am, trying to be decent, while you ask me stupid questions!"

A brief moment of silence ensued Nicole's grand tale before Katie burst out laughing. "Hahahahhahaha! That is the stupidest thing that I've ever heard!" she gasped, her eyes watering with hilarity while Nicole could only glare at her in resentment.

"It's true! He chased me all around and then I went and hid in his closet, and put on his shirt. Then he came in to get changed, he must have given up, that great loser, and he was reaching for some clothes... Any closer and he would have touched me, so I handed him a shirt, and he grabbed it and said 'thank you'. So naturally, I said, 'you're welcome.' then he found me and he took the dog tag and I sat on his bed and we were talking and... I was there... and he was there...then I made a comment about lonely beds... you know, I remembered what you had said and...then I left. I have to give him his shirt back later." Nicole panted for breath after this statement.

Katie giggled shaking her head. "Wow."

"Don't 'wow' me! It's true! And if you don't believe me, I'll get Logan in here and he can tell you exactly what happened!"

Katie laughed at this. "Nicole, he'd laugh at you and tell me you two had wild sex all over his room. I mean really... But, c'mon Nicole..." Katie laughed again, at her friend's expense. "Did you really say 'you're welcome'?"

Nicole rolled her eyes. "Yes! I did! Now stop laughing at me!"

Katie continued to giggle uncontrollably however, making Nicole's face flush in impatient anger. "I'm sorry!... I'm sorry!" Katie gasped between giggles, "It's just... that's the funniest and stupidest... thing... that you've ever done!" Katie squealed, rolling to and fro all over her bed, clutching at her sides from all of the laughter.

Nicole scowled. "Yes. I know." she growled, crossing her arms over her chest while watching Katie's display of hilarity that she simply couldn't see. "It's not that funny!" she exclaimed exasperatedly.

"Yes it is!" Katie giggled (though a very small part of her felt a bit bad at making fun of Nicole. It was a very, very small part though).


	37. Chapter 37: Pens And Needles

Nicole sighed, trying to think of something to get Katie back with. "Well, Katie, that doesn't look like your sweatshirt. Who'd you bang for it? Scott?"

With an insulted squeak, Katie sat upright and clutched at her sweatshirt possessively. "Yes! It is Scotts! But he gave it to me while I had to have lunch in my muddy, wet clothes. Since you so kindly called the shower." she snapped defensively.

Nicole's brows raised a fraction of an inch. "There are other showers in the school you know. You could have taken a shower in one of them." she said in a dry manner.

Katie flushed with the embarrassment that she had not thought of that before she had gone to lunch soaking wet, "I did! But after lunch." She mumbled.

Nicole smiled, "Always the gentleman. That's good 'ol Shades for-" Nicole stopped. Shades, Shade. Shades. She gasped. "Oh my gosh. Katie, I've just had the most mind blowing realization."

"What?" Katie looked at Nicole, utterly confused. She'd already gone over the whole Scott-Shade thing in her head, right after she'd gotten her first note, and had dismissed it. Yeah, right, like someone like him would ever have that sort of passion for her. "Nicole, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Katie, Shades! Shade... Shades!" Nicole exclaimed in an almost manic manner, waving her hands about frantically, desperately trying to get Katie to see her meaning.

Katie's face continued to look puzzled and she shook her head. "Nicole... what are you talking about? Yes, I know that Shades provide Shade for the eyes. That rather obvious. You've only just realized this?" Katie pointed out, raising an eyebrow at her now near hysterical friend.

Nicole's face fell. "No but Katie… don't you get it? Shade! Scott wears shades! Wouldn't it make sense if his pen name was Shade?"

Katie rolled her eyes at Nicole, as though she was trying to converse with an intelligent but extremely confused three-year-old. "Yes, I've noticed Scott wears shades, its rather hard not to. But it wouldn't make any sense for Shade to be Scott, would it? I mean really, Nicole! Think about it!" Katie said as though this should be extremely obvious, completely with unnecessary emphasis. "I mean, If Scott were Shade, do you really think that he would be able to act so normally around me? He'd probably have a nervy spaz. That is, if, which he isn't, he were Shade." Katie affirmed, waving off Nicole's suggestion like an annoying comment.

Nicole gave Katie a flabbergasted look. "But... Katie... it's so obvious that he likes you! And he doesn't act normal! He's always jumpy and awkward!" Nicole pleaded as if pleading with a judge for her life.

Katie shook her head. "No…" she said with the impatient air of someone who has already made up their mind, "It couldn't be Scott. Scott couldn't possibly have written those letters!"

Nicole heaved an exasperated sigh, resisting the urge to grab Katie by the shoulders and shake her until her teeth rattled. How could she be so dense? "How do you know he didn't write them? Its so OBVIOUS Katie!!"

"No its not!" Katie replied, looking as though she was beginning to be more annoyed than impatient. "It is not obvious Nicole, because Scott is not Shade!"

"Do you want me to show you how he acts around you compared with how he acts with other people? Because I can!" However, Nicole could hardly begin to getting around to bombarding Katie with mental 'video clips' of Scotts normal behavior compared to how he behaved around Katie before whom but the devil himself knocked and stepped into the room bearing a laden bright blue laundry basket.

As Nicole turned to look at Scott, her eyes speculating and suspicious, Katie quickly ripped Scott's sweatshirt from herself and stuffed it under a pillow in one swift movement. "Uhm... I hope I didn't interrupt anything... important?" Scott mused inquiringly.

The girls each shook her head hastily. "No, nothing important." Katie blurted, face flushing in embarrassment and flashing Nicole a death glare.

"Well, that's good," Scott commented, looking rather cutely and comically awkward, standing there in their doorway with his laundry basket, as though he'd rather be anywhere but there. Putting the basked down over by the desk, he glanced over both piles as though he didn't already know which went to whom (though he probably, if asked, couldn't recognize a single item of Nicole's, despite handing it to her multiple times. It wasn't Nicole's fault, just some inevitable overshadowing). He usually knew which pile was Nicole's by default, so no one could really blame Scott for handing Katie's pile of clothes to her first. "For you," he mumbled softly, fully aware of Nicole's calculating glare. If she stared any harder he swore that she would bore holes into the back of his skull.

Katie blushed and took the pile, grateful for the briefest of touches as their hands brushed.

Finally turning to Nicole, Scott flinched at her unadulterated suspicion. He handed her her pile of clothes. She smirked. "Thank you, Shade." She snickered, resisting the urge to laugh at poor Scott when his face paled.

Katie squeaked, "Nicole!"

Nicole sent Katie a look that told her friend to be quiet, and that this was in her best interest. Nicole couldn't help but be a little on edge, but (besides the whole sneaking in the room at night and touching Katie who-knows-where), Scott had written about wanting to 'take her in front of everyone'. And that was much too pedophile-ish for Nicole's taste.

"What?" He asked, sounding confused.

"You heard me... I called you Shade."

Scott's face was the epitome of utter bewilderment. "I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about." he declared, looking at Nicole in concern then turning to Katie. "Is she alright? Is she feeling ill? I know you said that you all fell into the pond... maybe she's caught a cold?" he inquired (pretending to be) concernedly.

Nicole scowled behind his back and motioned to Katie mouthing 'he's Shade!' multiple times while waving her hands around and gesticulating quite wildly. When Scott turned around she stopped and looked innocently up at him. Scott raised an eyebrow.

"What? Can't I call you by your pen-" she started,

"Nicole! That's enough! He's not Shade, I told you time and time again. Now drop it! Scott clearly has absolutely no clue what you're talking about." Katie snapped, shooting Scott an apologetic look.

"Is there something going on that I should know about?" Scott asked Katie, still doing a very good job of appearing concerned, though on the inside he was absolutely terrified. It was bad enough to know that Nicole had obviously found him out, without needing to know that she so very obviously disapproved.

"No, Nicole's just rambling... nothing important," Katie commented offhandedly, trying to gloss things over. If she'd had any last, lingering hope (tucked away in the back of her mind), that Scott really could be Shade, it was gone now. But that was probably for the better.

Still looking extremely puzzled, Scott nodded meekly and retrieved his laundry basket. He turned to face the two girls when he reached the door, "Well then, see you later. You girls better hurry though, or dinner will start without you." At his last comment, Scott smiled and would have winked if they could see his eyes, but he merely turned and left, shutting the door behind him.

As soon as the door was closed, Katie shot Nicole a glare that, if looks could kill, would have melted Nicole's face clear off her skull. "Well, that was rude!" she hissed, snatching up her pile of clothes and angrily stuffing odds and ends of clothing into their proper drawers.

Nicole scowled, "No, what is rude is writing your students notes about fucking them in public! I mean, normally I would approve of you and Scott... but now... well, I'm sure he had his reasons for those thoughts… but... I definitely don't approve of him publicly displaying his passions for you." Nicole declared.

What had started out as a nasty quip melted into a flow of blabber, and Katie swiftly made to tune her friend out. Even though she couldn't help but feel flattered at her friend's protectiveness, she had clearly chosen the wrong suspect to be protective against. Scott was most definitely not the type to go around sneaking notes into girl's rooms and smoozing them into a romantic lull with mere words written on a flimsy piece of paper... Katie's thoughts stopped abruptly as, instead of coming in contact with another article of clothing, her hands found a small envelope lying on top of a pair of her pants.

She, deciding that she didn't care if Nicole was in the room or not, unfolded the letter to read:

_Kitten,_

_I feel I should apologize for my actions the other night, but I am not truly sorry. I had left my room only with the intention of taking a walk - I could not sleep for thought of you! - but I could not resist. Now I am haunted by the feel of your skin, by the smell of your hair, the sight of you lying there, helpless in the moonlight, the sound of your breathing... the taste of your mouth, but it is a torture I could not live without. It took all my self-control to pull away. Not to push you further... I want you, Katie. I need you. How I wanted to kiss you again, to taste you properly. How I wanted to taste your skin... to run my hands over your entire body. Your neck, your sides, your arms, your thighs, your breasts... everywhere. I want to make you moan… make you orgasm; make you scream my name in pleasure. I want to lie there with you in my arms, and I want to feel your heart beating as you fall asleep exhausted there. I want you, all of you, and I don't think I can last long without you. _

_I love you more than life itself, darling, and I need you. _

_-Shade _

Her heart fluttering rapidly, the letter slipped from Katie's slightly numbed fingers. "Oh!' she gasped, blushing. Shade could never be Scott. Shade was open and honest and Scott was very uptight and to himself. Though it was nicer that Katie could actually see Scott. Katie had gone into a sort of trance, going over the details of the letter in her head dreamily.

Nicole took advantage of Katie's swoon-y state, the note floated as if on an air current and into Nicole's outstretched fingers. As her eyes zoomed across the page, they got wider, and her grip on the letter tightened. _Scott was so dead._

Katie, with the realization that the paper was gone, came back to herself. Where'd it go? Had she dropped it? Twisting, she searched the floor around her frantically. Glancing up at Nicole, sure that her friend was suspicious (and equally sure that Nicole should not get to read this particular note), Katie gasped to see the paper in Nicole's hand. Eyes traveling up her friend's wrist, up her arm and to her face, they met Nicole's blazing ones meekly.

"'oh, I think it's sweet'. 'At least he isn't coming out and saying rawr I want to fuck you'. Really Katie... What would you call this?!"

Katie flushed, "But... it's not so much rawr I want to fuck you. It's got more of an I want to make love to you ring to it." she babbled, attempting to snatch the letter from Nicole's grasp.

Nicole held it ever farther away from Katie, raising an eyebrow. "Really?" she mused skeptically, "It seems to scream 'rawr I want to fuck you' to me... Besides... what's the difference between 'fuck' and 'make lllooooooveee'" Nicole batted her eyelashes, saying the last bit of her sentence in a mushy tone and flopping over in a dramatic fashion, her hand over her brow theatrically.

Katie scowled. "Plenty of things are different between 'fuck' and 'make love'!" She snapped; face burning with the embarrassment of what they were discussing.

Nicole's eyebrow disappeared into her fringe, "Fine then, compare them." she challenged.

"Well, fucking is just about sex! There isn't any sort of attachment or anything... just physical. Making love involves just that. Love! It's about emotions too and- and- Nicole! Give it BACK!" Katie snapped again, small blue-white sparks beginning to crackle among the stray hairs at the ends of the locks that framed her face. "And this is 'rawr I want to make love' because he loves me!"

Nicole's chest (which was filled with hot air) deflated and her face paled. That was right. Scott did love Katie. He must. Scott, at least, had emotional ties to his physical attraction to Katie. Unlike Someone Nicole knew, who thought he could fool around with anyone he liked without even considering their feelings.

These thoughts hit Nicole like a kick in the gut, and gave Katie an opening, which she seized by snatching the slightly beat up note from Nicole's limp fingers. Nicole seemed to diminish in size as she scooted back to lean against her bed post. Love. _That_ was the difference between 'fuck' and 'making love'.

Katie panted in her anger and the ends of her hair continued to crackle, though somewhat more tamely. Katie blinked at her friend's reaction to her words. Oh great. She'd struck a nerve. A very bad nerve to strike given Nicole's emotional state at the present. "Nicole..?" she began tentatively, not really feeling sorry for what she had said, since it had been true, but feeling sorry for hurting Nicole's feelings.

Nicole smiled, though something seemed wrong about the way her eyes shone behind the smile. "I'm okay!" she replied, "You're right. He really must love you."

Katie blinked at Nicole, feeling slightly confused. Nicole never gave in so fast, even when Katie was right and Nicole knew it. It was obvious what Katie's explanation had brought up, and why Nicole was acting so weird about it. Katie sighed on the inside. Why were things so damn complicated? "I'm...glad you agree with me...?" Katie replied quietly, testing the waters. A NicoleEmoMoment wasn't good for anyone, and much less for Nicole's rather fragile emotional state.

Nicole shrugged half heartedly, "It's no use arguing with you. It would have gone on for hours. Besides, it's just about dinner time anyhow." she mumbled. Nicole had built up her 'impenetrable' façade, shutting Katie out as quickly and as suddenly as if she had just closed a door in her face, and appeared as nonchalant as she ever had been.

Katie frowned, "Yeah..." she agreed, eyeing her emo friend warily. What had bothered Nicole just now?


	38. Chapter 38: Hate Me

Katie sat off to herself at dinner that night, actually not next to Nicole for once. Rather, she was between Arch and Kitty, and Nicole was several seats down. Dinner, despite the nice warm "comfort food" of chicken pie and mashed potatoes, and the number of people on either side, she felt rather alone. It was bad enough trying to hold a decent conversation with her "boyfriend" when thinking of the note, without Nicole being miffed as well.

Nicole wasn't exactly better off either; she would have rather been sitting with Katie despite her miffyness than have to sit where she was sitting, next to Bobby and directly across from Logan. Damn him! Whenever she wanted to be free of him, he made a point of popping up everywhere. So she was in a quite similar predicament, minus the naughty note. Though it didn't make much of a difference since the object of her somewhat garbled affections was sitting directly across from her, eyeing his own shirt (which she had neglected to change out of) in interest.

Bobby was not enjoying his evening much either. He had nothing against Nicole wearing baggier clothing... but did she really need to wear a man's (_another_ man's, to be more specific) shirt? It didn't look like it would be anything Nicole would have bought for herself, which brought up the question of where she would have gotten it from. Rather than ask such a delicate question in front of the obviously staring (and extremely creepy - wasn't Nicole too young for him? Was Logan some sort of pedophile?) Logan, Bobby ignored it, and kept an obviously proprietary arm around Nicole's shoulders, touching her (arm, face or neck, he had some self control) as much as possible.

Not that Nicole didn't appreciate Bobby's gesture of protectiveness, but the brief brush of his fingers over her face and neck began to tickle after a while, making her flinch, which in turn made Logan smirk. Bobby frowned, hurt by Nicole's flinches. "You alright, 'Cole?" He mumbled, peering down at his girlfriend's face concernedly.

Nicole, who had been in the middle of a daydream about leaving everyone in the dining hall and going up to go to sleep and perhaps having 'a good dream about flying or something', jumped in surprise. "What?!" she squeaked loudly, turning to face Bobby so quickly that her hair whipped his face.

He recoiled slightly, wincing at the sharp sting of her hair across his face. "Are you alright 'Cole?" He asked again, feeling a bit put out that she wasn't paying much attention to him. "You're twitching."

"Ooh! You're just tickling me, that's all," Nicole replied, truthfully, doing her best to ignore the still-smirking Logan across from her, despite the fact that she liked the way he looked when he did that...

Bobby's cheeks flushed pink, "Oh, I'm sorry... I didn't know that you were that ticklish." he apologized, settling his hand on her shoulder and stroking it through her shirt. Nicole smiled and was about to tell Bobby that it didn't bother her that much but didn't have the chance.

Logan apparently felt the urge to jump into their conversation. "Yes Icecube, didn't you know? Nicole is extremely ticklish." Logan drawled lazily, smirking in that slow way that made all of the fangirls melt.

Bobby gaped like a gaping goldfish. His eyes darted from Nicole to Logan and back rapidly. "What..?!"

Nicole blushed, half from rage at his insinuation and half at the intense embarrassment that she would have enjoyed what he insinuated. "Its not what you think!" she squeaked at Bobby semi-frantically, looking back and forth between the two males involved in her twisted triangle.

Bobby looked as though he didn't know what to think, and so was more than a little confused, but still angry at the idea of Logan touching his girlfriend at all. Logan, on the other hand, sat there almost passively in a content silence, that sexy, evil smirk still upon his face.

Nicole glared at Logan, who continued to seem unfazed by her rage, he merely continued to smirk. "Bobby, don't believe a word he says. He just likes to get people all riled up for no good reason. He has absolutely no idea what he's talking about." she snapped, folding her arms over her chest.

Logan raised an eyebrow, "Oh, don't I?" He mused, chuckling when Nicole gaped at him open mouthed.

Bobby glared at Logan. What was going on? Was there something that he should know about? Bobby, angry right then, decided that he hated Logan. Hated the smug, self-satisfied way Logan looked over Nicole right then, the way he seemed to feel he could have his way with anyone, regardless of age. Bobby glared at him. "Pedophile," he muttered acidly, just loud enough for Logan to hear.

Logan did not look fazed, he'd been expecting that, and instead just widened his nasty smirk. "I prefer my women fully grown," he commented in reply, giving Nicole a pointed stare.

If Nicole wasn't gawking at Logan like an idiot before, she certainly was after that comment, a bright red tint high on her cheeks. "Y-you bastard!" she hissed, not knowing whether to strangle him or to cover herself. She settled for standing up in indignation. _I'm pretty close to full grown... girls stop growing around 16 anyways... but who cares? I'm not supposed to be thinking about pleasing Logan! _

"Ah... haven't been called that name in a while... I was beginning to think that you were starting to like me." Logan drawled, looking up at her through his lashes, which had a quite nice effect on Nicole's stomach, making it jump pleasantly.

"I would never begin to take a liking to some one like you, Logan. I don't make a habit of befriending no-good, egotistical, bastards." she growled.

Logan did not reply right away, merely making purposeful eye contact. _So you won't befriend them,_ his look seemed to say, _but you like it when they kiss you?_

Nicole glared at him, trying to ignore the flipping and flopping of her stomach.

He smirked in reply. _You're wearing my shirt_, this look said. _How much can you **really **hate me?_

Now, Nicole wasn't exactly sure if she could just read the obvious looks on his face, or if that she could hear his mind thinking those things along with making the faces. Either or, the message was quite loud and clear. She opened her mouth to reply, but decided that it wasn't exactly a good idea to let it slip that she was wearing his shirt in front of Bobby. She settled for, "I hate you so much, I can hardly form the words for bursting with fury." she growled through her clenched teeth.

Logan raised his eyebrows and gave her a look. This time, Nicole could tell that what she interpreted as words were his thoughts, which clearly said, _Can hardly form the words without bursting with fury? Or can hardly form the words because it's a **lie**?_

- - -

"So, what were you and Logan arguing about this time?" Katie asked Nicole nonchalantly, wandering about their room aimlessly, making sure nothing of hers was out of place. She was wearing only the sweatshirt to sleep in, and the smell of it brightening her mood. "Whose bed to meet in for hot passionate sex?" she suggested, maybe if she made jokes about it often enough, Nicole would relax about Logan for once?

Nicole shivered for a moment, considering the lovely mental pictures that filled her head before snorting indignantly. "Oh yes Katie, we've came to the decision that we're going to his room to have deliciously hot, and wild sex all over it." Nicole mumbled moodily as she kicked off her pants, (leaving Logan's shirt on for an extremely nice, sexy smelling pajama shirt) and sat on her bed.

"Just remember to use protection," Katie commented, brushing her hair out, watching it flick in the mirror. "Wouldn't want any Logan-Nicole hybrids running around." She turned to shoot Nicole and exaggeratedly disgusted face. "They'd be _impossible_ to live with."


	39. Chapter 39: In The Shadows

Katie ignored Nicole's silence, unperturbed. Nicole was like that sometimes. Snuggling into her fluffy pillows (and more importantly, snuggling into "her" sweatshirt), she sighed contentedly. "mMm..." She murmured, breathing in the warm, comforting, yet intoxicating scent of him. Oh, there was some part of her that wished she could smell him so close to her for an entirely different reason, but she was still incredibly happy to have what she did... Lulled into sleep by his scent, Katie fell into a most interesting dream...

Katie walked along the hallway to her room, sighing to herself. It was late afternoon, though it was already getting dark, and she didn't have any more classes. Rather, she was just going to drop off her bag in her room before going off to hang somewhere. Stepping in to the shadowy room, she fumbled for the light switch. As she felt along the wall she felt extreme exasperation, she seriously considering giving the light bulb a good jolt to get it going. Just as Katie's outstretched fingers brushed the confounded plastic contraption, someone spoke to her from inside the dimly lit room.

"Kitten," The voice which purred **his** affectionate nickname for Katie was smooth and deep, coming from somewhere within the room. She could hear soft footsteps approaching slowly until she could vaguely make out a tall figure, blacker and darker than her dim, shadowed surroundings.

"Who's there?" her voice sounded slightly higher than she would expect it to.

The man chuckled, a soft, rich sound. "I've grown tired of writing letters, Kitten..."

Katie shivered, taking a small half step backwards, away from the figure. As much as he made her feel weak at the knees, he made her skin crawl, and as much as he inflamed her passions with his words, he pushed her further into a fear of him...

He chuckled again, suddenly much, much too near- She felt her breath catch in her throat, though she could not bring herself to step any further away. Why couldn't she make up her mind? She half-saw, half-felt the shadowed hand reach out for her face. Closing her eyes, she let it happen, the fingertips brushing over her cheek. _Oh god..._

He gently stroked the side of her face before advancing ever closer, enveloping her between the intoxicating heat of him and the almost sharp, coolness of the wall. His warm breath bathed her neck and ear while teasing lips nibbled on a tender spot just below her earlobe. The fingers of his free hand curled in her hair, both restraining her and exploring the soft locks. "Surely Kitten, you didn't think that I would ignore your soft moans for me at night while you're asleep...? How could I deny you...?"

She shivered again, lightly trembling now. _Did_ she moan for him in her sleep? How often did he sneak in, unnoticed, and watch her lie there? Katie drew in a ragged breath, trying to force her mind to function against his touch. Her exhale dissolved into a husky moan as his fingertips slid down her face, lightly across her sensitive neck, and down her back, drawing lines of heat as they went.

She kept her shaking hands tight against her sides, unable to trust herself to try and push him away... She'd only end up pulling him closer. "Shade...please..." She choked out, all too aware of his mouth so close to hers. She didn't know if her pleading murmur, more of a whimper than a whisper, was with him to stop, or to continue...

Shade chuckled, sliding both hands up and down her sides slowly. His hands just barely lifting her shirt each time they rose, allowing the air to chill Katie's skin ever so slightly. As goose bumps rose on her sensitive skin, Shade's lips covered hers. He kissed her slowly, teasingly drawing her lips between his teeth and biting, his tongue sliding luxuriously over the spot to sooth the brief sting. "Mmm... Kitten..." he moaned huskily, one hand resting on and squeezing her hip and the other kneading the tense muscles in her back soothingly. "I'll be gentle darling... just let me..."

Katie could barely form any coherent thoughts, much less think to resist him, or think to say anything at all. What was she supposed to say? 'Yes, please?' 'You don't need to worry about being gentle; I liked the way that felt?' Because she had liked the way it had stung a bit, the way he'd soothed it. Really liked the way he touched her. The hand on her hip slid up, underneath her shirt, warm hand startling against cooled skin. "y-yes..." she whispered, in a moan, despite not knowing who he was, despite being still semi afeared of him. Because she wanted to let him, desperately wanted.

Shade's moan of satisfaction hummed and throbbed into Katie's throat as he trailed butterfly kisses slowly down. The two lovers' pace quickened; wants and needs seeking relief in each other's arms. Taking her hand in his, Shade led Katie's hand to the first button of his shirt. She fumbled with the buttons, her head in a haze, fingers feeling thick and heavy and barely willing to do what she needed them to. She eventually worked the difficult buttons from their holes.

Katie, aching, and needing to feel him, she dragged her fingertips down her unknown lover's chest, coaxing a purr from deep within his throat. She got a thrill of ecstasy at the noise, pleased that she had just as much of an effect on him as he did on her. Coherent thoughts were banished when he tugged the useless shirt from her and let it fall to the floor, hoisting her into his arms, heading for her bed.

Katie, tossed gently onto her bed with a mild thump, looking up at him as she lay there, had a brief moment of panic. She had no idea who this man was, didn't know is name or even what he really looked like, and here she was willing to fuck him, give up her _virginity _to him? But, as he knelt over her, lips on hers and hands spreading their heat throughout her newly-bared chest, she moaned again and again in ecstasy, realizing why...

Katie, lying there panting, wrapped about in a pair of the most comfortable, warm arms she'd ever had the pleasure of being wrapped in, was seeing stars. It had gone infinitely better than she'd ever expected a first time to go. He'd been obviously eager to finally have his hands on her, have his way with her, but he'd been just as obviously gentle, considerate of her inexperience.

Feeling his chest against her back, the rise and fall of his breathing, Katie sighed in contentment. Suddenly, and most anticlimactically, a ray of evening sun slanted through her blinds into her face. Turning her head, rolling over in his hold, half trying to escape the light and half wanting to know who her mysterious stranger was, Katie was nonetheless shocked to stare into a pair of lovely blue eyes, the realization and the blue all she could concentrate on...

... As it melted into the blue-black interior of her curtains, which a gasping Katie awoke to be staring at.


	40. Chapter 40: Age Old Question

Katie sat up slowly, wiping the cold sweat from her brow, panting lightly. She sighed, tugging her bed curtains to the side, squinting when she was practically smacked in the face with the loveliness of the Sunday morning.

"Morning." came a voice. Katie jumped, but calmed once she saw that Nicole lie awake in her bed, only her face peeping out from her blankets.

Nicole smiled, here eyes crinkling at the corners slightly and her eyes shining in the morning sunlight. "Another good dream?"

Katie's face flushed, and she nodded at Nicole. As vaguely uncomfortable and telling her dream had been, she'd enjoyed it very much. "Yes... it was a very good dream." Pausing, she looked at Nicole sideways. "Were you listening to it? Again?" Nicole had a disconcerting habit of listening in on Katie's dreams, however uncomfortable Katie would have been about it.

Nicole shrugged nonchalantly, rolling over on her stomach and staring hard at the alarm clock, crossing her arms over her pillow and resting her head on them. "Maybe I did... and maybe I didn't," she began, grinning into her arms and sliding Katie a sly look, "Kitten." Nicole snorted giggling slightly hysterically. "Kitten! Ha!...That's the stupidest... nickname I've ever heard!...Does he call you princess too? Oh! Oh!..Or maybe... sugarplum, or muffin?!" Nicole squealed with laughter, rolling from side to side now in hilarity. Until she fell from the bed with a 'whump'. "Owwie..."

"Serves you right," Katie muttered to herself, giving Nicole an I-hope-that-hurt look.

Nicole made a sad face at Katie, looking fairly ridiculous sprawled out on the floor in Logan's t-shirt.

"And what, pray, does Logan call you? Candy?" Katie asked acidly, looking indignant. She hadn't _minded_ being called Kitten...

As expected, Nicole flared up almost at once. "Why would he associate me with that idiotic, bimbo's name?! No, I'm bitch, kid, or Miss Vigneau. And if he's really angry I'm Nicole." She snapped, sitting up and glaring at Katie. "Besides, why call me Candy, when he could have the real thing?" Nicole's angry words dissolved into grumpy mumbles as she got up, making a show of ignoring Katie while digging savagely through her clothing drawers.

Once choosing a baby blue short sleeved shirt with a few buttons at the v-neckline and a white camisole with lacy bits on the top and bottom to go under it, she opened her pants drawer to find it empty. She paled. No pants. She'd worn all of her pants and had sent them to the laundry room, Scotts' visit the night before was only for shirts and undergarments which were always done together. Pants were always washed separately because they were so bulky and would jam up the washing machines if they went in with everything else. She wouldn't get her pants back until tomorrow. "Katie... my pants... they're all gone..." Nicole gasped in awe. What would she wear?

Katie smirked. "You could always wear that skirt that my mom gave me... you know... the short denim one? It doesn't fit me, too small around the hips... you could always wear it." she suggested, oddly pleased that Nicole was going to have an extremely awkward day today in a skirt. Since... well, Katie mostly wore skirts... Nicole deserved it for making fun of her nickname.

Nicole blanched. "I'd rather die first."

Katie grinned at her friend, somewhat evilly. "Well, you could always just walk around school without pants on, I'm sure Logan would love that. It'd make trying to bang you in an empty classroom just that much easier."

Nicole rapidly went from pale, to dead white, to bright red. "KATIE! How DARE you suggest that I'd do something like that!"

"Well, how dare YOU listen to my private dreams?!" Katie snapped back, getting up and rummaging through her own drawers and taking out the skirt and throwing it down by Nicole. The skirt, in truth, wasn't all that short. It could have been much worse.

Nicole stared menacingly up at Katie through her lashes, "Well, either way you were moaning and talking in your sleep... what's the difference if I can hear his input as well?" she snapped, "Besides, you were practically radiating the dream to me. I was getting snippets of it even before I decided to listen in."

Katie scowled. "I don't care. It still wasn't any of your business."

Nicole harrumphed, grabbed the skirt, giving Katie a dirty look. Katie glared right back, righteously, small spider web-y strands of lightning dancing about her face.

Katie and Nicole ignored each other all the way to breakfast, sitting next to each other so they wouldn't have to actually look at each other. Nicole was none the happier when Logan looked up from the seat across from her, and grinned, looking her up and down.

Albeit reluctantly, Nicole sat down across from Logan, but only for the lack of open seats. Though Logan's face wasn't exactly very welcome to Nicole at the moment, but then again, neither was Katie's. So she sat, trying to ignore his existence.

Logan however still found it extremely amusing that she chose such feminine clothing today. "My my, aren't we feeling extremely feminine today..." he mused, eyes sparkling devilishly behind the charming grin that spread over his features.

"I ran out of pants." Nicole stated blandly, pushing her sausages around her plate idly.

Logan smirked "Want to borrow a pair of mine?"

Nicole snapped to attention, glaring at him, all pretense of ignoring his existence gone. "Well, considering the size of your ass, I doubt they'd fit me." She commented, feeling the warm fizz of anger built up inside her. She really didn't want to have this conversation, not with him, not right now. She'd woken up with a bit of a scratchy throat and a sniffle, and wasn't quite feeling up to this.

Logan's eyebrows threatened to disappear into his hairline, and the corner of his mouth kicked up into that irritating smirk. "Well, I'm flattered that you pay such avid attention to my backside, but I'm sorry, I don't go for younger women." he commented, his voice grated on Nicole's nerves she suppressed an irritated snarl.

"Could've fooled me." she hissed through gritted teeth, her food didn't appear half as appetizing as it had a minute before. Her throat constricted painfully, she assured herself because she was feeling the beginnings of a cold. Nothing more...

Logan smiled in a mock sweet way, "I'm sorry, perhaps if you were a bit older...?.. A few feet taller..?" he smirked.

That was a low blow. Nicole stood up rather abruptly. "I'll give you a few feet taller, you furry faced son of a-" she began to snarl malevolently, but stopped when Katie yanked Nicole back into her seat.

"Could you act like a normal human being for one morning? Just this once?" Katie snapped icily, turning angry blue eyes to Nicole's burning dark ones.

"No, considering the fact that no one in this building is a normal human being." Nicole said waspishly.

Katie recoiled a bit, somewhat hurt by that comment. It was easy to forget that they weren't normal human beings, as the school was filled with such mutants, but it still stung to be reminded. Ignoring the thin, faded blue-orange spark that crackled its way along a curl, Katie went back to ignoring her friend. Nicole needed to learn that other people had feelings too.

Logan cleared his throat, snatching Nicole's attention back to his smirking face. "Had ourselves a little lover's spat have we?" he drawled, an eyebrow raised, the furry-faced comment was let slide for the moment.

Nicole's lip curled in distaste, she stabbed at her cold scrambled eggs viciously. "What if we have? Why would it be your business? It wasn't about you so stay out of it." Nicole lied with a blank face. Of course the argument had been partially about him. His bit had been added as a nasty comment on Katie's part.

"Don't lie to the man Nicole; of course it was about him." Katie broke in, with a nasty "_Ha, you're in for it now and you deserve it too_"- look. Nicole's jaw almost fell to the floor, and Logan's eyebrows threatened to disappear into his fringe again.

"So," Logan began, looking pleased with himself. He liked arguing with Nicole, at least when he won. "Were you fighting about me, or over me?" He added, with a smug looking smile. Nicole's face darkened, and Katie's twitched a bit. Though she liked having gotten Nicole back, she did not like having it insinuated that she wanted anything to do the brutish Logan.

"No!" Nicole rushed to defend a little too quickly, Logan's smirk widened. "We were just arguing about..." Nicole faltered. Quick, a lie... and a good one. She blurted the first thing that came to her (some what disturbed...) mind, "Boxers or Briefs?!"

Without warning, Katie burst into laughter, snorting into her orange-tea, and through the hysteric fit of giggles she gasped, "Yes! Which do you prefer? Nicole was wondering!"

"Neither," Logan replied, one eyebrow rose ever so slightly above the other.

Nicole immediately spit out her own drink, choking. "You go commando?" She blurted out, mind filled with some fairly unwelcome pictures, none of which would help her keep her breakfast down. "No! No! I DON'T want to know!!" Nicole croaked, panting heavily from nearly drowning in her drink and clutching her head, willing the extremely unwanted pictures from her head. Bad thoughts bad thoughts... very bad thoughts... Was he serious? If so, she would never be able to look at him the same way without looking... Nicole's eyes slid to the part in the table where she judged his lap would be, quickly then looking away completely mortified. If her food had been unappetizing before it certainly held no appeal now.

Logan merely chuckled sadistically at Nicole, though any further attempts to scar mental images of his nether regions into her mind was cut short by the overly cheerful bell ringing.

Nicole scowled and got up, ignoring the half-eaten remains of her breakfast, deciding she needed some time alone. That old, twisted, lightning-scarred tree looked as though it would be the perfect place for her brooding.


	41. Chapter 41: The Great Divide

Katie sighed to herself, resolving to do what she should have done already: find Arch, and break up with him at last.

As soon as she mustered enough gall, Katie left the dinning hall in hopes of finding Arch and getting it over with as soon as possible. Quick and painless, they didn't really know each other all that well anyway, right?

While still in emotional and mental turmoil, Katie searched everywhere franticly, the library, the seat in front of a window with a lovely sky view on one of the higher floors that he liked so much (Katie avoided looking out of it, heights + Katie no), the rec room, and even a few closets that couples were not-so-secretly making out in.

Finally, just when Katie was prepared to give up and was turning around to go and find Nicole, (though not because she wanted to, but because she had to it was her civic duty to make sure that Nicole didn't maul anyone...) she nearly walked right into Arch.

"Oh!" she said, exasperated. Why the hell hadn't she noticed that he was behind her? Had he been there the whole time? "There you are."

"Were you looking for me?" Arch asked, face lighting up some, obviously finding the concept of her wandering around for what felt like hours trying to find him cute.

Katie's innards felt as if they were being filled with lead, a sinking feeling in her stomach, her throat constricting painfully. "I-" she began, but her voice was choked up. She cleared her throat, sighing and beginning again, "Yes- I... well... Arch...I'm really sorry..." she began.

Arch's face fell considerably, his big blue eyes large and puppy-dog like, "What is it..?" he asked, sensing the ominous way in which Katie had begun her sentence.

Katie whimpered mentally, how could she do this to him? He was so cute... all he ever did was like her... _But it would be better if he were with someone who felt the same way,_ her conscience reminded her, pushing her for courage. "I'm sorry but, I just don't feel the same way you feel about me... I just... we're all wrong for each other... you're good and cute and caring...you remind me more of a brother than of a boyfriend.."

Arch could only blink helplessly at her, not really wanting to hear the rest of the inevitable 'its not you...' 'I just wanna be friends...' that would follow her statement. Oh, he didn't want to be her brother! He wanted her to like him too!

"I know this sounds cliché... but... it really isn't you, it's me, and I'm really sorry..." Katie backed up a step, feeling like the worst person on the face of the planet, at the hurt look in his eyes. "But... I just can't... I mean...couldn't we just be friends...? I just... I don't want you to hate me for this... If our relationship had progressed... you would be miserable with me because of my adverse feelings..." Katie continued, each word becoming more and more painful as Arch's face contorted slightly in pain.

Katie tried to lock her knees, trying to resist the urge to keep backing up and run away, however nice it sounded. The look on his face was just too hurt for words... "I'm... really sorry about this, But it would hurt you so much more to keep trying... if I didn't feel the same..." Katie felt her lip tremble, hating herself for having to do this. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry, so...so...so..." she choked on the words, feeling tears trail warm paths down her cheeks. She allowed herself to run then, not wanting Arch to see her cry, not wanting him to pity her when he was in his own personal pain. She ran with her tears stinging her eyes and clouding her vision.

This was horrible. How could she do that to Arch? He was such a nice, sweet boy... but she had to have this..._ thing _for a teacher of all people! Scott. Why? Why did Scott's bright blue eyes look so much better than Arch loving ones? Why did Scott seem so much more appealing when he smiled with those dimples, than Arch did?

Looking about, trying to avoid anyone she knew, she found a deserted alcove outside of the library, and plopped herself down on the window seat there. Drawing her knees up to her chest, she put her face down and cried, partly for what a bitch she felt like she'd been to Arch, and partly for how horrible she felt at how wonderful she felt when Scott smiled at her.

As the tears began to dry on her face, Katie looked up to survey her surroundings. The hallway was completely empty. It figured, people weren't exactly willing to visit the library on the weekends, along with the fact that hardly anyone knew there was a library. Still sniffling, Katie wiped the remaining tears on her shirtsleeve and got up. She really should go and see Nicole.

Besides, she couldn't be upset about a breakup without a best friend's shoulder to cry on. Their argument really seemed sort of petty in light of the most recent events. Fighting over a dream that Nicole would have been able to hear anyway... and a dream that Katie wasn't even supposed to be having at all at that.

Hopefully Nicole wouldn't decide to hold a grudge... Katie was usually the one to hold things over people, but one never knew with Nicole. Getting up she started off towards the dining hall/room, figuring it was as good a spot as any to start looking for Nicole... The halls closer to the food had a few more students, and she passed more than one passionately making out couple, which did not put her into a better mood. Hiding her face, trying not to make the tearstains obvious, she nearly walked into someone she knew.

Pyro backed up ever so slightly, grinning down at Katie's tear streaked face. "Hey there Katie... why the long face?" he purred in a soothing manner, reaching up and wiping away the trails left in Katie's foundation by her tears.

She twitched, not exactly liking the way he touched her so boldly, and not necessarily disliking it, either. "I... I broke up with Arch," she mumbled, not really wanting to spread the news, but not wanting to lie either.

"Oh?" he inquired, unable to hide the glint of triumph in his eyes. Katie spotted this but disregarded it. Yet another girl he could hit on without guilt. Not that he felt guilty for hitting on and/or feeling up 'taken' girls. "That's too bad Katie; I thought you guys were really great for each other..." Pyro stroked the side of Katie's face gently, toying with a lock of hair that had fallen into it.

Katie sighed, really not up for his games... but his hand was warm and she needed some sort of comfort right now...

Scott, hands in his pockets, was wandering about outside, enjoying the warm sunny day. For once he was almost glad to be wearing the sunglasses, as there was quite a glare. Looking about him, unconsciously scanning the windows, he stopped dead.

Katie was standing in front of one, looking obviously distressed. That would have been enough to make him feel bad; had not the player Pyro been making a move... he tried to squish the spark of jealousy. What claim did he have?

Pyro's faux-sympathetic face did not waver, but his eyes looked triumphant that she had not moved to push him away.

Scott failed to suppress the jolts of jealousy that coursed through his veins. It was just like Pyro to try and jump into a girl's pants right after she'd been dumped. The fact that said girl was Katie at the moment didn't exactly help the situation... _You know that it would be better for her to be with Pyro, even if he is a slime ball; at least it would be legal eh..?_ sneered a particularly nasty part of his conscience, said voice sounding exactly like, and drawing up a vivid picture of Logan. Scott made a soft noise of aggravation, kicking up a pile of freshly raked leaves. Damn it!

Katie sighed again, though less heavily. "Well, it's over now, so..." She trailed off with a shrug. Hopefully Arch would be able to move on, no trailing around like a kicked puppy or deciding to hate her and making her life a misery (not that she needed the help). She also found it necessary to squash the mental note that if she was single, she could go find someone else "more suited to her tastes"... it's not like she'd have more luck there!

"Did you see where Nicole went?" She asked Pyro, gently disengaging herself from his reach. Flirting was nice and all, but she needed Nicole more.

Pyro grinned, "When I saw her last she was coming in from staring at that old twisted up tree for a good half hour... grumbling and muttering something about needing a box of tissues." he laughed, shaking his head. That girl was weird sometimes... she'd been staring at that poor on the edge of death-tree as if it were the cause of all of her problems...

Katie couldn't help but smile and giggle, it was always funny to hear what Nicole did without people around to entertain her. "Do you know where she is now?" Katie asked, trying to force her face back into a more somber one. She'd just dumped the nicest boy in the world after all...

Pyro shook his head, shrugging. "Dunno, but Ice Cu- I mean Bobby has been looking all over for her, but hasn't seen her. You might try and look for her in the Library, or maybe in one of the student studies... she's the only one who seems to enjoy being alone and reading at the same time in this school.." Pyro commented blandly.

Katie nodded at Pyro, glad for the information, if not quite for his company. "Thanks. I'll see you around I guess..." she turned towards the library before catching herself. "Wait-" Pyro looked at her expectantly, as though hoping for her to throw herself at him in the throes of passion. "Can you keep... this... on the down low for now? Just don't tell anyone yet... I don't know if he'd want it all over the school before lunch."

He nodded, though he did look vaguely disappointed. "Sure."


	42. Chapter 42: Astonishing Civility

Meanwhile, Nicole was sitting, as Pyro had suggested, on the window seat in a small alcove in the library, her head in one hand and a book in the other. Her body was stretched to its full extent on her side, leaning her back against a squashy pillow that she had brought with her.

Her head was throbbing slightly and she was developing a rather annoying sniffle, there was a box of tissues within her reach, and she often paused in her reading to dab at her nose daintily before resuming. She'd just begun to get into her new read and had been relaxing into the pillow comfortably when the one of the library's side doors flew open.

"There you are! All I have to do is follow the trail of tissues to find you! What, are you leaving them behind incase you get lost? In that case couldn't you just use bread crumbs instead? At least I could just vacuum them up!" Logan had arrived. Must he make a fuss?

Sighing, Nicole looked up from her book in annoyance. How was it, that whenever she wanted to avoid him, Logan seemed to show up everywhere? "Or you could eat them. Just like the wild animals did in Hansel & Gretel. You are rather animalistic... with your fur and whatnot." Nicole responded, baiting him. If Logan was going to hunt her down so be it, it wasn't her fault that he liked to argue.

Logan's expression went from somewhat peeved to pure anger.

"If you're going to bother me, be prepared for the consequences." Nicole continued, she eyed him with in a rather bored manner.

Logan was at a loss for words. Bother her, all he did was follow the trail of tissues, it's not like he went looking for her. As if he wanted to anyways... He had much better things to do with his time. Then again... his eyes couldn't help but sweep over the way Nicole's body was draped over the small couch. He watched her put the book down and rest her free hand on the curve of her hip enticingly. Logan also couldn't help but notice that the skirt that she had been forced to wear today due to lack of pants was riding up. She attempted to tug it downwards but only freed up a small space of midriff for him to look at instead. Logan had completely lost track of the conversation. What were they talking about again? Why was he here?

His inattention and wandering eyes were not lost on Nicole, as she looked up at him through her lashes. Hm... Why should I be surprised that he only pays attention to my behind? He's only hoping for my skirt to ride up enough for him to get a nice peek at my ass... "Do you mind?" She snapped at him, after a few moments of silence. "Go try and get up someone else's skirts... there's plenty of fangirls that would let you!"

Logan seemed to snap out of a trance, he shook his head. "What?" he asked dumbly.

Nicole rolled her eyes. Not listening to a word I say, as usual. "You're drooling." she snapped dryly.

Logan's hand twitched upward for a moment as if to wipe the nonexistent spittle from his mouth but he caught himself. He glared at Nicole, who smiled in a mock sweet manner, tight lipped.

"I also said, if you want to get up someone's skirt why don't you try it on one of your fangirls? There are plenty of them that are just itching for you to do so." she sniffed, still playing the indifference card, in hopes to get him to go away, but beneath this veneer, she prayed that he stay right where he was lest she be tempted to surrender her lips to his once more. She enjoyed the look he had been giving her for a split second earlier.

Meanwhile Logan smirked, regaining his 'cool', "Must I repeat this? I don't go for younger girls." he drawled, approaching and drawing up a chair rather too close for comfort. He straddled it, resting his arms on the back and resting his chin on them smirking in a challenging manner.

Despite the panic that was occurring beneath the surface, Nicole managed to quip "Undoubtedly you must repeat it, other wise you'll never come to believe it yourself. If my memory serves you've strayed from your girls-over-18 regime more than once on my account."

Logan, deciding that it wasn't like he could deny it, grinned at her. "No one's perfect," he smirked instead. There was a brief silence, and an oddly civil one at that. "Speaking of not being perfect, I'd like my shirt back."

Nicole raised a challenging eyebrow. "Maybe I don't want to give it back."

Logan's own eyebrow rose in reply. "Maybe I don't care what you want."

Nicole suppressed a nervous giggle with difficulty, but her lips betrayed her amusement by twitching upward and staying there. Damn it. "Oh really?" Nicole taunted, unable to come up with a come back.

Logan chuckled deep in the back of his throat, Nicole tried not to twitch at the sound that made her tremble in all of her forbidden dreams and fantasies. "Yes, really," he drawled, his voice a light purr now. His teeth flashed in the dying afternoon sunlight when he grinned, tipping his head to the side, his hair falling into his eyes ever so slightly. Logan's chair suddenly seemed far closer than it had been a few seconds ago in Nicole's opinion.

"Well then," Nicole gulped, heart banging around in her rib cage like a wild beast, "You'll just have to take it by force then, because I just might not want to give it back."

He grinned back at her. "I look forward to trying to persuade you."

Nicole's mind barely processed his words, too occupied with the effect his being so close had on her body. _Oh, just shut up and kiss me already, you stupid... stupid jackass!_ She thought with vehemence.

However, she never got a chance to see if he would, as Katie entered the room and killed the moment by clapping. "Wow! A full minute of civil conversation... I'm absolutely amazed!"

Nicole jerked and Logan jumped from his seat as if electrocuted, sending the chair toppling over. "How long have you been standing there?" Nicole demanded weakly, unable to muster enough energy to produce enough coolness for Katie, they were after all still on bad terms, were they not? Her nerves were still on end, and she felt a slight aching in her lips as if they were disappointed. She licked her lips to calm herself. That was crazy, Logan wasn't going to kiss her again..._Oh but you wanted him to... how you wanted it so badly_... she thought scathingly to herself.

Katie giggled and grinned, "Long enough." she stated, her eyes flicking from between Logan, who was now standing on edge, stiff and ready for anything as if Katie were about to attack him, and Nicole who undoubtedly looked disappointed. There was a beat of silence. "Are you done scaring me with your civility, or can I talk to Nicole now?" Katie asked Logan casually, as though seeing him and Nicole alone and quiet was an everyday occurrence. "But if you were busy discussing something important, I can wait." It was obvious in the way she said 'discussing' that she hinted at them having had other plans.

Nicole flushed with embarrassment behind Logan's turned back; she gave Katie a despairing look, which was ignored. Katie stared at Logan expectantly, raising a brow.

Logan received Katie's suspicion with a cool indifference. He smirked, "No, be my guest. Nicole and I can finish discussing the issue at a later time..." he turned, and flashed Nicole a suggestively charming grin, "Don't think that you're off the hook, I'm not finished with you just yet. I'll be back for my shirt later on tonight, but I have things to do, people to pick up after, et cetera..." he drawled, making his exit stage left, bowing his way out in a dramatic fashion, blowing a teasing kiss at Nicole before disappearing out into the hall.

Nicole flushed in embarrassment and anger. How dare he make suggestive motions and comments towards her?! And in front of Katie too! The asshole... He definitely wasn't getting his shirt back now...

Katie stood there, trying to smother a giggle. As much as she did _not_ approve, it was extremely amusing to watch someone throw Nicole so off guard. Nicole did not find it so amusing. "He is not getting his shirt back now..." She muttered to herself, reinforcing the idea.

Katie really did giggle this time, plopping into Logan's discarded chair. "If you can keep him out of your pants long enough to protest that is."

Nicole scowled. "I keep my panties under lock and key, remember?" she muttered, her face completely stony.

Katie snorted, "Yes, but I bet somewhere hidden in that key ring of his, Logan's got an exact duplicate of the key to your panties." she laughed, wiggling her eyebrows as Nicole hung her head. Now that Katie was there, Nicole's view of that entire conversation turned sour. That was the most pointless, and sexually driven conversation she had held with Logan yet. Would he really come to retrieve his shirt later on?

Meanwhile, Katie was still giggling, "'I'm not finished with you yet.' That's priceless. You better watch out Colie, he might come for a lot more than his shirt tonight..." she taunted.

There was a brief silence, broken by Katie's sigh. "I'm sorry Nicole... I'm just so... so miserable inside; I was trying to sort of cover it up..." She trailed off, as Nicole looked at her, confused. "I broke up with Arch this morning, Colie... I just couldn't... oh..." Katie trailed off again, with a sniffle. "I need a hug," she murmured, the picture of abject sorrow.

Nicole found that despite all of the nasty things that she had wanted to say to Katie earlier in the day after the fight, that the argument between the two of them really had no meaning whatsoever. Nicole allowed Katie to rest her head on her shoulder and listened to all of the details of the break up patiently, not interrupting and not making a comment until one was needed. She offered Katie small condoling pats and comments. "Don't worry about it Kaefer, you did the right thing." she mumbled soothingly, stroking her friend's hair, wiping her tears away and offering to share her tissues with the poor miserable Kaefer (Kaefer was an old nickname for Katie, that really had no explainable background, but that's what it was).

They were sitting there, peacefully; when a bell rang somewhat unexpectedly (it was a weekend, after all). "What?" Nicole asked, confused.

It was Katie who remembered, with all the suddenness of a light bulb going off over her head. "I completely forgot! Nicole, don't you remember the assembly we're having, about that field trip?"

Nicole looked even more confused for another moment, before it dawned on her. "Right!" The two got up, collected their dirty tissues (Nicole not intending to leave such an easily followed trail for Logan again), and hurried off to the dining hall.


	43. Chapter 43: Chain Reaction

The two girls hurried as best they could until they joined the large mass of students filing down the stairs for the assembly. It was there where Bobby, pushing his way through the crowd, found them, smiling in relief. "There you are Nicole! I've been looking all over for you!" he smiled, immediately wrapping his arm around her shoulders and kissing her on the cheek affectionately.

Nicole flinched, pushing him away. "No don't! I... I'm getting a cold, I don't want you to catch it." she finished her panicked objection sweetly, offering a kind smile to Bobby and giving his arm a squeeze.

Katie felt a pang of guilt as she realized that Arch would not be running to greet her, though more at the relief she felt at this realization than anything.

The older students arraigned themselves at the tables, facing Scott and Storm who stood at the front of the room. Scott seemed more restless than usual, shifting from foot to foot. No one saw the way his eyes, behind the mirrored lenses, darted to Katie, the way they followed her to her seat, lingering on her face far longer than they should have.

When all of the students had entered the dining hall, Storm cleared her throat to silence the dull humming of the student's whispers. When all was silent, she began to speak. "Yes, well. We've called this assembly today to-" she faltered as Logan burst in, looked about for a split second, then shut the door none so quietly and settled himself into a chair at the back.

Storm glared at Logan for a few moments before continuing, "To discuss this year's Fall trip. The trip will be to Massachusetts, Salem in particular for its witch museums and history. Xavier feels that it is within the school's curriculum to discuss how many mutants in the past have been accused of witch craft and sorcery. We will also be visiting a few other places in Massachusetts, along the way for a few treats for shopping, and a few tourist attractions..." she finished, looking to Scott to continue where she left off.

There was utter silence in the hall. Storm cleared her throat. "Scott!" She hissed.

A few students laughed as Scott jerked, flushing slightly with embarrassment. His eyes and thoughts had been elsewhere... "Uhm yes, for accommodations... in all of the hotels that we are to stay at along the way, there will be three students assigned to a room. You get to pick your roommates but they all must be of the same sex." here Scott turned his head in Pyro's direction to make it pointedly obvious to everyone whom he thought would attempt to break the rules, he turned back to stare at the student body in general once more. "The doors will be taped shut every night and the tape will be checked every morning to see if any of the students had thought that they could get away with sneaking out at night... There's no need to worry about payment for the trip, the fee was added to the expense of sending you here already and your parents paid it in order to enroll you here. Though they didn't know the purpose of the fee... You need not bring money unless you are planning to buy souvenirs... and we will be checking what you buy. Naturally the purchase of any weapons, drugs et cetera is forbidden..."

There was a loud, mocking sigh of disappointment from several students. "But I like drugs," one particularly 'funny' boy stage-whispered.

Scott gave him a look, before getting back to business (though he still seemed slightly flustered, as though his thoughts continued to stray elsewhere). He picked up a sheaf of papers, handing it to the front row. "Here we have the tentative plans for the time we will be gone. Obviously, you do not have to attend the trip, and anyone caught breaking any serious rules will be barred from attending. Anyone caught sneaking out at night, in the room of someone of the opposite sex-" here Pyro groaned in frustration very loudly, and very disappointedly. "Or in trying to purchase any forbidden items will be sent back." There was a pause as Scott and Storm tried to think of anything they might have forgotten. "Any questions?" He asked at last, satisfied that they'd covered everything.

Naturally, there were many questions, all of them shouted at once. "Where are we to eat?"

"Are we allowed to go about Boston by ourselves?"

"How many teachers are coming?"

"Is this trip only for the older students? What will happen to the younger students?"

"Should we pack bathing suits for the hotel pools?"

"Are we allowed to use the hotel pools?"

"Are we going by bus? Can we sit with whomever we like?"

Scott sighed, stroking the bridge of his nose gingerly, he was getting one of his headaches again... and though he would have rathered leave the room and leave the questions unanswered, he answered them despite himself. "Meals will be taken in the hotel dinning room for breakfast and dinner, lunch will depend on where we are at the time and whether there is a restaurant or mall nearby. I suggest you bring snacks on the bus, but snacks that will not melt, or if you bring things like that please make sure to prevent them from getting on the floor. Uhm, there are approximately 6 teachers coming. Prof. Xavier, Storm, hank McCoy, Nightcrawler, Logan, and Myself. Each teacher is assigned to a certain amount of students and they will escort their students everywhere. You will not go anywhere without a chaperone. This trip is for the whole school, we have a few other voluntary friends of the school coming to help chaperone the younger students. Yes we are allowed to use the Hotel pool just like everyone else... so bring a bathing suit if you like. Buses, you can sit with whomever you like..." Scott sighed wearily. After his little explanation the questions were silenced.

"Any more questions? Anyone?" Storm inquired. The students shook their heads silently. "Very well then, See you all at dinner then! Assembly dismissed."

"Who are you rooming with?" was whispered over and over again, as students chattering about the trip tried to arrange themselves into neat threesomes.

"I don't know if I'm going to want to room with you, Colie," Katie commented dryly. "The way you're sniffling, I'd end up sick the second night..."

Nicole (not so very) lightly kicked her friend. "Its not like you don't already room with-" she was cut off by a particularly violent sneeze. She glowered into her tissue. "I hope this stupid cold clears up before then..."

But Katie already wasn't listening, mind already skipping ahead to the fact that Scott was going on the trip, might be on her bus, and to the distinct possibility that she might get to see him in a bathing suit.

Nicole sighed exasperatedly, there Katie went again. Not listening, again. For someone who had been upset less than an hour ago, she sure was one to bounce back from a bad break up...


	44. Chapter 44: Give It To Me Baby

The two girls made their way slowly but surely up to their room, planning to hang around in there for a few minutes before heading down to the Rec Room for a bit. When they finally fought their way through the slow-as-molasses mob of students, they threw themselves onto their beds with identical sighs of relief. "Argh... I can't believe that mutants, clearly more endowed than normal human beings... can possibly move that slowly..." Nicole moaned stuffily, ending her sentence with a sniffle.

Katie just rolled her eyes at Nicole. "You're just impatient. You're also very argumentative... I want to see you and Logan manage not to kill each other this trip..." Katie was, of course, ignoring that morning's civility. It was much scarier than their arguments could ever be.

Nicole rolled her eyes, "As long as he isn't our chaperone, and as long as she stays _out_ of my way- everything will be fine." She assured Katie curtly.

Katie snorted into one of her pillows. "Given our luck, he'll most likely be our chaperone, and if he _isn't_- _he'll still find a way to you. No matter what it takes to prove his looooovvve for you..._ But he'll probably try and get into your pants first." Katie giggled, sighing in a girlish fashion, batting her eyelashes at Nicole teasingly.

As would be expected of her, Nicole had just begun to swell with indignation and flush with embarrassment on her cheeks, prepared to retort, when there was a knock on the door. A rather eerily civil knock for the voice that followed…

"Knock knock, anyone home...?" Logan called.

Nicole could hear the smirk in his voice. Her breath stopped and she motioned for Katie to keep quiet for the love of all that was good.

Logan chuckled from the other side of the door. "I know you're in there Nicole… I can smell your perfume."

Nicole snarled into her pillow before throwing herself off of her bed and storming to the door. Couldn't the man leave her alone for two seconds? How sketchy was that? He could smell her… if that wasn't weird, she didn't know what was. She snatched the door open to face Logan's tall, towering figure in her doorframe. Well, she couldn't exactly face him. It was more like nearly walking into and staring at, his chest then having to crane her neck to see his face. "For your information it's not _perfume_ its _body spray_." She snapped, not even bothering to ask him what he wanted. She was beyond that stage by now…

"Like I care," he replied, though inside he was thinking on how very nice it smelled, and whether his shirt, now that she'd been wearing it, would smell like her... "I came for my shirt, kid." He continued, giving her a look as though challenging her to defy him.

Nicole raised an eyebrow in recognition of his mental challenge. "Well, you're not going to get it back if you're not nice about it." she answered, glaring at him determinedly. "I could always just keep it... it makes for a very nice nightshirt." she continued, shrugging and risking a quick look directly into his eyes before dragging her eyes away to stare at anything but him.

For a moment Logan considered the concept of Nicole wearing one of his shirts to bed and this drew up not totally unwelcome mental pictures that he had to fight down for the sake of decency. It wouldn't do to accidentally let some of these thoughts slip enough for her to view them as well. "As interesting as this is to me that you enjoy sleeping in my clothing, I'd still like my shirt back." He demanded in a slightly (very slightly) more polite tone. "Please." he added.

"Hm..." Nicole made a face, as though seriously considering giving it back. "I don't know. You haven't done much to persuade me yet." She made another brief eye contact, afraid any more would lock her into his gaze, and she'd give in all too easily. Instead, she studied her fingernails, as though they would give her an answer.

The corner of Logan's mouth kicked up into 'that smirk' again, tilting his head to the side slightly to observe Nicole. "Or," he began, taking a step into the room, eyes sparkling. "I could just take it... no persuasion required." He purred, advancing further making her back up, not wanting him to get too close lest the temptation become too strong.

Katie cleared her throat. "Yes, no persuasion required would be preferred. You can both undress each other with your eyes some other time." she declared loudly.

They both, understandably, turned to glare at her, as it was clearly none of her business what sort of dirty thoughts were going through their minds as they looked at each other. "I was not!" Nicole denied, giving him a look telling him not to be getting any ideas. "Do you really think I'd be mentally undressing... him?"

Katie merely raised her eyebrow back at her friend.

Taking her friend's silence as an insult, Nicole stalked to her bed, lifting up her ridiculous amount of pillows and snatched up Logan's shirt. Face flaming; Nicole shoved the shirt sulkily into Logan's chest.

Katie's mouth hung open. "You put it under your pillows?!" She blurted, blue eyes even more pronounced than usual in her surprised expression. Nicole's face turned a deeper shade of cherry red.

"It was the last place that I would look if I were him." she mumbled, looking away from both Logan and Katie in shame.

Logan chuckled, "That's the first place where I would look. Here I was thinking that you were beginning to get to know me better..." he chided, that god damned smirk still glued to his face.

"Like I'd want to get to know you any better than I already do." Nicole snapped back, face still crimson.

Katie bit back a giggle. The sexual tension, and the obvious denials, were extremely amusing when you weren't part of the direct action.

Logan chuckled, eyes flicking to Katie quickly before returning to Nicole's face, he bent down a bit so that they were eye to eye. "Oh, but you do...you know you do." he assured her softly, his eyes taking on that predatory gleam momentarily. "Anyhow," he continued, straightening up like what he had just said was perfectly normal and not sketchy at all, "Thanks for my shirt, about time I got it back. I will see you around." Just to annoy her, he ruffled Nicole's hair then made a quick getaway.


	45. Chapter 45: Left Behind

The rest of the week was not quite as exciting as Nicole and Logan's umpteenth argument. Students were too excited about the trip to pay attention to much else, and by the day before most teachers simply gave up.

Nicole, on the other hand, started facing each moment with more dread than the next. Not only was her cold worsening, making her steadily miserable, but her and Katie had been assigned to a group of students supervised by Logan and Scott (obviously, a very sadistic person had drawn up the lists). Whether for better or worse, their four-thirty alarm for the trip morning buzzed all too soon.

Groaning, Katie rolled over, grumpily giving the alarm clock a strong zap, causing it to skid across bedside table and smash to pieces on the floor. Katie sighed. 'There goes another alarm clock' she thought, sitting up and sliding her feet to rest onto the floor. The air was much too cold for her taste, she would have preferred staying within the confines of her warm bed but if she didn't get up now she wouldn't get up at all.

The same went for Nicole, who was merely a lump in the covers in her bed across from Katie; she hadn't even bothered to twitch when the alarm clock went off.

Katie, trying to keep her feet moving so they wouldn't freeze, glared at Nicole. "Time to get up! C'mon, we'll miss the bus!" She hissed, as she grabbed the clothes she'd set out the night before. Nicole only moaned weakly in reply.

Katie pulled her head through her shirt, giving her already angry-static-y hair some added frizz. "Nicole, either get your butt out of bed, or I'll make Logan do it for you." She prodded teasingly, "Though I do warn you, after he's gotten you out of bed I'm not at all responsible for what he decides to do with you." Katie added for effect smiling wickedly in her groggy friend's direction.

With a faint moan, Nicole sat up and threw off the covers. She looked horrible. Her dark bangs stuck to her forehead with sweat and her normal skin tone paled by at least two shades. Her dark eyes blinked at Katie sleepily. "I don't think I can come." she mumbled raspily.

"Wow, Nicole!" Katie gasped; she hadn't quite realized how sick her friend was. "You look terrible!"

"Thanks," Nicole replied weakly, swaying slightly, nauseous. "But I'm serious Katie... I don't think I can come."

"Oh, Nicole..." Katie yanked on her pants as quickly as she could. "Want me to run down and find a teacher...?"

Nicole made a soft noise of consent, sniffling and clearing her throat. "Yes please." she grumbled. As Katie hopped off (she was attempting to put her socks on while trotting to the door), Nicole called out just before the door shut, reaching for Katie's retreating back "Just make sure it's not-" the door clicked shut. Nicole dropped her hand. "Logan." she uttered loathingly.

Katie skipped downstairs as quickly as possible without falling down. She came very close to, but caught herself, before dashing into the dining area.

Thankfully there was a groggy looking Scott studying the muffins as though too tired to actually decide what flavor he wanted. "Scott!" she called, tossing unbrushed hair across her shoulder. "I think Nicole's really sick..."

Scott turned to Katie, his brow furrowing in concern around the expression-less sunglasses. "Sick?" he inquired, "How? Do I need to tell Logan to get a mop?" he joked grinning ever so slightly. As if his lips betrayed how hilarious it was to him to think of making Logan clean up where ever Nicole got sick.

Chewing on her lip, Katie looked pleadingly at Scott. "Yeah, she's sick and she doesn't think that she can come on the trip... D'you wanna come up and see her?" Katie asked, shifting from foot to foot nervously. She wanted Nicole to come on the trip, not stay here! Who else would she hang with? At the same time, she was fairly certain she'd left under things strewn about the room, and she'd rather that Scott not see those, even if he did deliver her laundry...

Scott stood up at once. The muffins weren't all that important anyway. Maybe he could snag a scone on the bus's way past the nearby Dunkin' Donuts. "Of course, maybe the Professor should come-" Scott began but the Professor finished his sentence for him.

"Along? I'd love to." Professor Xavier offered.

Scott could have jumped from his skin. "Professor! I hate it when-"

Xavier chuckled, "I do that? My dear boy, you should be used to it after all of the years that you've been with me in this school." The professor smiled in a very kind, grandfatherly way. "But," he turned to Katie, "I know Nicole is sick. I would be able to hear her mentally grumbling if I were halfway across the country it's so loud. Take me to see her please?"

Katie nodded, and led Xavier to the elevator and up to her room. As she (and Nicole) and suspected, Nicole was much to sick to go along on the trip. After a few moments of asking a few of the other teachers telepathically, he turned back to Nicole and Katie, smiling kindly. "Logan has agreed to stay behind with you, Nicole."

Nicole's tired, sickly face paled another shade. "No Professor! I can go! I'll be fine, I swear, I won't touch anyone or breath on them or even think about them... just let me goooooo..." she rushed, her voice arranged in that of the utmost pleading.

Katie couldn't help but giggle. Proposing that Nicole could stay home and get better but Logan had to be her guardian? It was like putting Nicole on her deathbed. Katie struggled to fight back giggles that were both sympathetic and amused as the Professor explained to the poor Nicole that Logan wasn't exactly 'needed' for a chaperone for the trip anyhow, he had wheedled himself into the trip because he had nothing else to do, so it wouldn't be a problem if he didn't go. "But... but..."

"No, Nicole. You can barely sit up; much less make it down the stairs." Xavier gave her another kind look, though it was as firm as it was gentle. Katie opened her mouth to interject, when Xavier gave her a look. "I'm sorry that Nicole wont be accompanying you on this trip, but you need to go get your stuff loaded on the bus before all the good seats are taken."

After the professor and Scott left the room, Katie immediately began to scurry around; picking up scattered articles of clothing and stuffing last minute additions into the suitcase that she had thought was fully prepared to go.

Meanwhile Nicole watched her glumly, in total disbelief of her luck. When Katie looked up from her frantic packing Nicole's eyes were glazed and the look on her face looked as if she were on death row and that if she just went back to sleep it would all be a bad dream.

Katie snorted, "Face it Nicole, you'll have to endure Logan all week, when it'll be just the two of you. Try not to lose your virginity on the first night. Okay?"

Nicole barely had the energy to glare at Katie, before her friend was out the door, blowing a mocking kiss in farewell. "Like I said, wait till at least the second night, ok? And don't forget protection!"

Hurrying to scoop a muffin from the breakfast table, Katie realized she was going to be the last one boarding her bus. _Damn... I'll end up having to sit on Pyro's lap or something... damn!_

Katie trotted quickly out of the front doors and to the large luxury travel buses that were parked all along the Mansions' gravel drive. Logan was there to help the student's load their luggage into the luggage compartment beneath the buses, and he had a rather pleased smirk on his face.

Katie scowled, and as she handed Logan her overstuffed bag of belongings she hissed so quietly that he had to lean in to hear, "If I find one hair missing from her head, yours will roll. Keep your hands to yourself."

Giving him one last, (she hoped) threatening glare, she flounced off, not giving him a chance to respond. Like she cared what he had to say anyway.


	46. Chapter 46: Guilty Of Love

She was already the last kid to board the bus; she didn't need Logan making her any later. Unfortunately for her, the only two open seats she could see from the top of the stairs weren't very welcoming. One was deep in a gaggle of fangirls, and the other in the far back with a group of people she didn't even know the name of. Then she saw it.

Another open seat... this one a window seat next to Scott, as apparently no one had wanted to sit directly next to a teacher if they could help it. Katie breathed a quiet sigh of relief. She tried to arrange herself to make it look as if she didn't really want to sit next to a teacher but rather, she had to sit next to him because she had no other choice. That failed miserably as she walked with a slight bounce in her step as she approached the seat.

Katie cleared her throat to get Scott, who was staring in another direction entirely, would be forced to acknowledge her. "Um, could I sit there? I mean, is that seat taken? I like window seats... and this is the only one open."

Scott looked up at her, surprised to realize that she was addressing him. Oh, this was quite the choice. On the good side, he'd get to spend some-odd hours sitting next to her, close in an entirely legitimate way... but on the other side, he'd be spending some-odd hours much closer to her than usual. He had a tenuous enough grip on his self-control without inviting more temptation... but it would be quite the excuse to carry on conversations/bask in her presence. Despite this seemingly giant question, he answered her fairly quickly. "Of course you can Katie," He replied, standing up so as not to make her climb awkwardly over his lap (though he did almost consider that...).

Katie smiled gratefully then took her place in the window seat, peering outward at the other buses which were now revving their engines to show that everyone had taken their places. She could see Logan backing away from the very last bus and giving the bus driver a thumbs up, teeth flashing in semi-feral grin, in the dim semi- sunrise glow. Katie scowled. If Nicole was worse off from when she left, she would see to it to electrocute Logan so bad that he'd be static-y for the next three months of his life. The bus' engine roared into life and a few students began talking a little bit more excitedly, discussing what they wanted to do once they got to Salem.

"So, have you been to Salem before?" Katie remarked nonchalantly to Scott, trying to keep from blushing madly and/or giggling like an idiot now that he was only a seat divider away... and would be for the next three-four hours. She fiddled with the strap of the plaid messenger bag she'd grabbed for the bus ride; it was equipped with all the standard trip-survival equipment. Notebooks, pencils, CD player (though she didn't need batteries!), CDs, and chocolate.

Scott turned to Katie, resting his head on the hand closest to her and gave her a brief smile. He seemed to consider her question before he mused, "Well, no. Not really. I've passed through once or twice on a mission. But that was during the day, when no one looks twice at a man in sunglasses." his lips twitched ever so slightly upward with a sort of sarcastic amusement.

Katie couldn't help but smile. She laughed softly. "Well, it's Salem. They wouldn't look at you twice if you wore glasses at night either. There are a lot of very... eccentric people that live in Salem."

He chuckled, and the sound sent small shivers up and down Katie's spine. _Mmm_... "I think I'm glad we're going now, and not around Halloween... Salem must get rather interesting around then."

Katie nodded, smiling because he was. "Yeah... I've gone in October before, and it's a pretty fun place with everyone all dressed up. Me and Nicole and some other friends took a ghost tour once there... it was the best thing ever."

Scotts' eyebrows disappeared into the hair that fell into his eyes. "Ooh, see any ghosts?" he jested, chuckling slightly.

Katie blushed. Scott was so much more like a normal guy around her more than he was with others. It made her feel... special. She nodded. "Yes, well... not really. I mean, we couldn't see them... but when we took pictures there were all of these bright little orbs all over the place. It was creepy. One of our friends, Hillary, felt extremely weird when we stood in the exact same spot in front of a haunted jail, where a ghost was said to have rocked this woman's stroller during a past ghost tour when she wasn't touching it... Nicole said that she thought Hillary was being felt up by one of the inmates."

He laughed at that, though there was something awkward about it, as though even if he did act mostly like a normal guy, he wasn't at all comfortable with talking about something sex-related. "Well, you're going to have the option of going on a ghost tour as part of the trip... I'm planning to go, but I hope nothing like that happens." He tried to pass it off as casual, but this was simply a very awkward situation.

"At any rate," Scott yawned, "It should be fun. Plan on buying any souvenirs?" he ruffled his hair subconsciously, making it stick up in a few places but it wasn't at all unflattering.

Katie smiled, looking away momentarily to observe the road as they finally began pulling away from the school. She glanced up at one of the windows of the school where she knew Nicole was probably staring out of, her hand pressed to the glass as if beckoning for the buses to come back and get her the hell out of there. That was something that she would do...

"Katie..?"

Katie jumped. "Oh! Sorry, went off into my own little world for a minute there..." she mumbled, turning to face Scott again. She cleared her throat. "Uhm... yeah, I think I might get Nicole something to help her repel evil demons. She seems to attract them."

He laughed at that, getting her meaning. "That might be a good idea."

"Are you planning to buy anything?" Katie asked him next, as though genuinely interested, not just returning the favor. She fiddled with a lock of hair as she did so, unconsciously (and more than a little nervously - how would they think of enough to say, if they were going to be so very polite, to fill four hours? would they just sit there, in silence, awkward?), unaware that she was fluttering her eyelashes more than usual. Oh, it would be easier if she could be really sure of what he was looking at... she had some idea, having known him for some time, but the sunglasses still hid his eyes...

Scott shrugged, "I might. But I don't know any good shops that I could look in. Perhaps you could show me around-?" he suggested, offering a small, embarrassed smile.

Katie froze. Show him around? Well, she sort of knew her way around Salem. She'd been there once or twice, but that didn't mean that she knew Salem like the back of her hand... "Uhm... well, we could go together, but I'm not guaranteeing that we won't get lost."

He shrugged, still looking vaguely embarrassed, as though saying that he didn't mind being lost with her at all. "You still know your way around better than I do."

Katie nodded. She felt rather terrified at the idea of getting Scott lost, as that would make her look horribly stupid, but now she had a good excuse to hang out with him, instead of just trailing along after him like some sort of pathetic, lonely puppy. "I just hope you can read maps... I can't, not to save my life."

Scott snorted. "Well, saving people is what I do." he declared jokingly, flashing a grin in her direction. "Whether they want to be saved or not." he chuckled.

Katie grinned openly, "Well, you might just have to bodily drag me from the wax seal sections of the stores... oh, and you'll have to probably put me on short leash around the shiny, sparkly jewelry and things." she giggled, blushing and looking away when Scott smirked.

Their conversation, having exhausted itself of neutral, normal, safe for teacher-student sorts of topics, gently petered out. Katie, leaning against the window, soon fell asleep, lulled by the gentle conversation (no one was very awake) and the motion of the bus.

Scott occupied himself, looking around, holding one or two brief conversations with other students, but mostly he thought. One of the 'advantages' of his seat was that it was very easy to appear like he was simply looking out the window, when in fact he was surveying his student. With the sunglasses mirroring the scenery (such that it was), no one could tell if in fact he wasn't looking out the window at all.

Scott sighed, guilt tying his stomach into unpleasant knots as he surveyed his sleeping pupil. Katie's face was pressed up against the window, her breath fogging up the glass periodically as she breathed out, then in, and out again. Scott couldn't help but feel slightly amused. She was very cute when she slept in an uncomfortable position, but her neck might cramp up if she slept like that for too long...

As gently as he could, Scott slipped a hand between Katie's face and the window, his hand now cupping the side of her face gently. He took a moment to enjoy the warmth of her breath on his skin before guiding her head backward slightly to rest, facing him, on the cushioned head rest of her seat. All through this Katie slept on, unaware of her sudden shift of position. Though she did smile faintly before sighing, her face returning to that dreamy peaceful bliss that one attained while in sleep.

Glancing about him self-consciously, Scott tried not to look overly guilty. What he'd done was slightly overstepping his boundaries as teacher, but really was something that someone who cared about her well-being would do. Or so he thought, disregarding the moment he'd paused, enjoying the feel of her face in his hand and her breath upon his skin. No one seemed to have noticed the action at all, no one paying him any attention. And that was definitely a good thing... he found the guilty knots in his stomach tightening as he surveyed her sleeping form again, silky hair spread about her. It was definitely too public a place... wasn't it?

Yes, it was, but that didn't stop him from stroking the side of her face with regrettable relish. Her skin was very warm, his fingers felt freezing compared to the warmth of her cheek. Then again, that which is forbidden is therefore all the more desirable. Scott sighed, letting his hand drop after briefly twirling a strand of her hair around one of his fingers. He tentatively glanced around. Not a hair out of place, not one person had bothered to look up at him.

They all continued talking, listening to mp3 players, CD players, doodling, and writing notes. He noticed that not one person was reading a book. He laughed. God forbid that someone read a book on a field trip... Though he was fairly certain that Katie and Nicole would've been the only ones to read books of their own free wills. Never mind writing their own.


	47. Chapter 47: This Is Who We Are

The rest of the morning went by fairly slowly, at least for Scott. Most of the occupied students didn't notice, as they were actually engaged in something. He'd brought a book, but it was so easy to get sidetracked, now that she wouldn't notice him staring (though it would have been preferable for her to be able to talk with him). Lunch time approached, gradually as it was, and the buses swung into a small, Massachusetts Town for a pit stop and to top off the gas tanks.

Gratefully, the students stood stiffly and waddled their way off of the warm, heated bus and into the cool Massachusetts air. Scott groaned as he stood up, limbs stretching and limbering up as he strained his legs and stretched his arms over his head. After stretching, Scott turned to the still snoozing Katie and leaned over her. As gently as possible, he tapped the back of Katie's hand. Shaking it as well, mumbling: "Katie... Katie... wake up... we've stopped. It's time for lunch..."

"mmm..." she mumbled incoherently, blinking as she came to herself. "Wha?" She added, wondering why she was so comfy and looking up at the (as usual) attractive Scott, who hadn't quite let go of her hand... "Ooh... riight. The trip." Sitting up, she smiled at him, before, with a stray glance out the window, realizing where exactly she was. Katie gasped. "Oh my god." she breathed. They were in her and Nicole's hometown.

Scott, who hadn't the slightest clue to what was going on, peered at Katie in concern. "What, what is it?" He said his voice sharp and alert. Was there something amiss?

"This is where I live. This is my hometown..."

He looked at her puzzled for a moment, before realizing. "Oh, right, Wilmington! So this", he looked out of the window again, appraising the Cumberland Farms that they were parked at, across from a small plaza (the main attraction of which was a Market Basket). "This is Wilmington?"

Katie sighed. "Yes. This, as exciting as it is, is my hometown." She paused for a moment, considering staying inside the bus.

He saw the look on her face, in the set of her mouth. "Maybe you'll see someone you know…?"

She smiled, lips twitching sarcastically. "That's kind of what I'm afraid of."

"Well," Scott sighed, running his fingers through his hair before smiling gently, "You do need to eat, so... I suggest you go into the store, buy yourself a sandwich, and if you see anyone that you don't want to talk to... run back to the bus before they realize who you are." he suggested, laughing when Katie looked at him as if he were somewhat insane.

Katie smiled quirkily, "You know, that's exactly like something Nicole would suggest," She laughed, "and me being me, I usually listen to what she says. Even if lands me in extremely bad situations. But, here goes..." Katie fixed her face as if she were about to enter a funeral as she got up. Scott allowed her to pass him, and she momentarily disappeared while descending the bus stairs.

Katie was gone but a minute before her head reappeared, looking nervous. "Uhm... could you- Well, I mean... you need lunch too right? Could you come with me?"

He smiled at her, running a hand through his hair again. Like he would ever (could ever) say no to such a simple, request? Especially from her... her dismal expression made him ache unpleasantly, as though facing some sort of guillotine. "Of course I can."

Katie's anxious face melted into relief. "Oh... thankyouthankyouthankyou..." she exhaled as she disappeared from view once more.

Snorting with amusement, Scott followed at his own leisurely pace, finally stepping out and into a brilliantly sunlight afternoon. He was quite glad at that moment that he was forced to wear sunglasses. Katie on the other hand was squinting, shading her eyes with her hand, waiting for him a few feet away from the bus. Scott smiled. "'K, lets go." he prompted.

Katie smiled, nodding. The two of them walked the few feet that were between the bus and the quaint little store. Scott had just began to open the door for Katie when-

"KATIEEEE!!!!" A mass of blond hair obstructed Katie's vision momentarily as, Lindsay, a friend of hers and Nicole's. Lindsay, among a select few other people, was one of the only ones who Katie and Nicole sorely missed.

Katie hugged Lindsay back enthusiastically; looking the happiest she'd looked all day. "LINDSAY!"

"KATIE!" they hopped around for a moment in that happy, giggly way teenage girls have. "What are you doing here?" Lindsay asked at last, still grinning.

"We're on a field trip," Katie gestured towards the buses. "And we ended up stopping by here!" Any more happy exclamations were cut short by the arrival of another streak, this one only blonde-highlighted, as another one of those few friends crashed into Katie's other side.

Katie jumped as a name tag bit into her side as Hillary, in a mauve Market Basket uniform jacket, gave her remaining side a bone crushing squeeze. Light blue/grey eyes sparkled in excitement and her mouth was wide open. "Oh my god, you whore! Why didn't you tell me you were coming to visit? I would have taken a day from work! You're so lucky that it's my lunch break. I misss yoouuuuuuuuuuu..."

Scott, standing off on the sideline, blinked at them, utterly confused. Not only was it a shocking reminder that Katie was indeed still a teenager, but the display of utter teenage-girl-ishness managed to completely confuse him. Apparently 'whore' was a term of endearment? Why did they insist on squishing each other? Did they all act like this? He'd never really paid that much attention before...

Unfortunately, Scott being unaware of his teenage heart throb worthy appearance, he raked his hand through his hair in confusion. This sudden movement disturbed the precariously balanced calm that had just begun to settle among the girls. The two new girls' heads whipped to face him in a flurry of hair, three monochromatic sets of differently shaded blue eyes stared at him. Katie's attempting to apologize in advance as if to say, whatever happens, I am so sorry. Lindsay and Hillary both grinned both sheepishly and slyly at Scott, who didn't know what to do. "Oh... Katie... who's your friend?"

"Um..." Katie looked around, as though trying to find someone to save her from this massively awkward situation. What was she supposed to do? They obviously agreed that he was attractive, and were probably hoping that he was an older, available student. "That's Scott, my math teacher."

Hillary and Lindsay simultaneously exchanged a look of complete disbelief. "But-but..." Lindsay began, more than a bit puzzled.

Hillary eyed Scott suspiciously. "Then why-?" Hillary began to inquire.

Scott flushed, looking extremely uncomfortable in the unwelcome lime light. He rushed to explain. "I'm a chaperone for Katie's group for the trip. We're just making a pit stop to buy sandwiches and to fill up the gas tanks before we head off..."

Katie looked from Scott to her friends, wishing that a) this wasn't such an awkward situation, and b) that they could have met under different circumstances... "Well, I'm going to go get something to eat with them... you don't need to wait for me or anything..." Katie mumbled, edging away from the group, trying not to hurt anyone's feelings or give anyone the wrong idea about any relationships.

Scott, glad to have an exit, nodded impassively. "Make sure to be back before twelve forty-five! We wouldn't want to leave you here." Without another look at her he ducked inside the store, bent on finally getting his long awaited scone and a strong cup of coffee.

The minute Scott left them, Hillary's head whipped to face Katie in a whirl of thick golden brown hair. "You creep! I can't believe you're hanging out with a teacher. Even if he is amazingly, uber hearthrobtastic." she hollered a little on the loud side.

"Say it a bit louder Hill, I don't think Dublin quite heard you clearly enough." Katie hissed, pouting in the direction of some locals who had paused to stare at the group of girls incredulously. She and her two companions began making their way inside the store; none of them had had anything to eat yet.

Hillary rolled her eyes, "Har har. Why don't you hang out with Colie instead of your teacher? Is she not hot enough for you?" She commented derisively, looking at the rows of packaged sandwiches as though they had a hand in the conspiracy.

Katie gave Hillary a warning look. "I'm not hanging out with him 'cause he's hot, I'm hanging out with him because Nicole's sick and I don't have anyone else I know to sit with, alright? Nicole's not here or I would be hanging out with her!" Really, it was bad enough what she put herself through in her own mind about the whole infatuation-thing; she didn't need Hillary telling her what a creep she was. She tried to keep her voice (and those of her friends) down. No need to let any of the other students in on their conversation. Fishing out a chicken salad sandwich from the case, she began eyeing the drink cases.

Lindsay sucked in a breath. "Colie? She's sick? And all alone? How could you do that?" she asked concern in her eyes, balancing her Sprite on top of her turkey sandwich as she wrestled with the case door.

Katie couldn't help but smile, her lips curling upward in complete and utter amusement and sarcasm. "Well, she's not exactly alone..." she suggested, "Though she would have been better off alone..." Katie shrugged. They got into line, which was thankfully short as most of the students were still hanging around, not thinking about lunch.

Lindsay furrowed her brow. "What d'you mean... not exactly alone. Are their other students that didn't go on the trip? Who's staying with her?" she inquired, befuddled.

"They left Logan to see to her." Katie replied, her face looking sour.

Hillary's expression took on a dawning sense of foreboding. "Why, who is Logan...?"

Katie's voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper, she didn't want any of the other students listening in. "Well, it's complicated..." She began with Logan's and Nicole's less-than-stellar meeting, to their frequent fights, and his apparent crusade to claim her virginity. "And I don't think they would have let me stay with her without a really good reason... and that would mean telling the whole story... So now she'd stuck. All alone with Logan. For like a week." Katie finished. It was their turn at the register; further discussion was stalled as the three paid for their lunches and left the store (Katie sending Scott, who was waiting for everyone else to have gotten their lunch before he bought anything, an appreciative and vaguely apologetic look).

The look that both Lindsay and Hillary exchanged was very grave indeed, as they sat down on the pavement in front of the Cumberland Farms. Lindsay cleared her throat, clearly not sure whether to laugh or be concerned. "You left Nicole with an older, perverted, hairy man?! It's not that I don't trust him, I'm sure he has some sort of sense of the law... I'd be more afraid of Nicole actually giving in to his advances..." she worried, her blue green eyes sparkling with slight humor. She wiggled her eyebrows theatrically.

Hillary, who had a slightly less optimistic view on the subject decided: "She'll have been laid by Monday. Pregnant already, even." They ate as they talked,

Katie laughed a bit at this. "I can't say I disagree... I'll have to call Nicole tonight, try and give her some moral fiber." The conversation then changed to what had been going on in good ole Wilmington, and would have gone on for quite some time if a high, nasty voice hadn't interrupted (by this time, they had finished eating).

"Hey, look, its The Freak!" Katie, with her back to the voice, spun around in alarm. Several of the other mutant students who had already eaten did as well, knowing what that person had meant. Mostly this meant Pyro's group, who'd drifted closer (obviously, Pyro wanting some of the foxy ladies Katie was chatting with).

"Oh, shit." Katie muttered to herself.

Katie had turned to face a fairly large group of 'Wilmies'. The generic, typical band of losers who thought that they were 'gangsta' and hip, yo. Wrong. Altogether there had to be at least half a dozen of them. The girl who had cried out "It's the freak", being in the middle, and she just happened to be the smallest of the bunch. She had shoulder length brown hair and a rather unpleasant mousy face, including the slightly larger front two teeth. She had an anorexic look about her and she wore a very unpleasant sneer on her freckly face. "Well," she drawled, "Look who's back in town. Where did you go anyway... did you get a scholarship to some gay school for the defected? Or did you just get tired of getting caught sticking your fingers in outlets in public?"

There came a resounding "Oooh." from the girl's peers.

A girl next to her giggled manically. "Good one, Kaylie."

Hillary could be heard behind Katie grumbling, "Whore... you little anorexic whore…"

Katie pursed her lips, feeling the buzzing, angry spark of fury ignite within her. She was suddenly very aware of every particle of energy that hung in the cool air, felt the electricity running through the wires and into lights in the stores, heard the faint electric hum of the refrigerators. "Shut up. For your information, I was invited to join a private school. You know, one of those places were people learn. Away from bigoted trash like you."

The previously furious clicking of the lighter slowed, and it was then that Katie realized how close over some of her other, newer, friends had drifted.

One of the taller girls, just as skinny with a more masculine face and her blonde hair hairsprayed in a large lump at the top of her head, glared at Katie as though she was some sort of bug. "You're just jealous cuz she's a real person, not some fucked up shit like you." This other girl snarled, with a self-satisfied, ugly smirk.

Pyro's lighter resumed its furious clicking, and Katie could hear him growling angrily. Both Bobby and Kitty had entered the mob of Xavier students and had similar scowls of disgust on their faces. Katie growled in frustration. "Why on earth would I be jealous of any one of you, never mind her?" She pointed a finger accusingly at 'Kaylie', feeling a faint spark about to sprout from its tip. The ends of Katie's hair were just beginning to crackle. "All you guys are is a group of wise asses who think that you're amazing just because you are 'normal'." Katie blustered.

Pyro nodded fiercely behind her, taking a few daring steps towards the group of antagonists, his lighter clicking open to show a quick flare of flame before snapping shut. "You guys have got a lot of nerve, thinking that you're high and mighty just because you're normal. The way I see it, is that you're not normal, you're just the weaker species. We're stronger than you; we've got abilities that you couldn't even dream of. We're the future."

A charged silence (somewhat literally as well, as a few small, spider-web-y sparks had escaped Katie's control and were crackling about her temples.) greeted Pyro's announcement. At any other time, Katie would not have agreed, as she thought of herself as an equal, not superior. But now, angriest she'd been since she left Wilmington, it was hard not to get carried away.

The 'Wilmies' seemed vaguely stunned, as though his vocabulary had overloaded their tiny brains. "Bitch." one of the before-silent anorexic chicks, this one with quite the nose, reached out and slapped Katie across the face. There was a bright flash of light as the electricity transferred to the girl's hand and the equivalent of several electric fences shocked up the girl's arm.

Katie jumped back with an "Oh," surprised and in some pain as Erica (the girl)'s false nails opened a cut on her cheek.

Scott's mind was elsewhere as he stood in line to pay for his coffee and scone. Katie had looked so very awkward when her friends had asked who he was. Was it because she'd been disgusted by the idea of thinking about him as more than just a teacher? Or had she just been concerned with not wanting him to over hear her brushing it off? Or had (maybe? possibly? hopefully?) she'd been afraid to let him over hear her agree? Deep in his own thoughts, he did not see the pandemonium outside.

Meanwhile, the pandemonium was just beginning. A few of the 'Wilmie' guys strode forward, their overly baggy pants billowing around their skinny legs, and twisting their caps to the side. "Yo, that's not cool, are you retahted (retarded) or something?" one of them grunted, his lip curling as he looked Katie up and down. Katie barely had enough energy to respond, she merely stared down at the blood shining on her fingertips. The boy advanced a little more. "Hey, you bitch, I said: Are you retahted or somethin'?" He hollered a little more aggressively.

Pyro advanced, pushing Katie back slightly in defense. "Back off."

The kid swaggered forward a bit more, aggressively, sunlight glinting off of his glittery, rapper-style diamond earring. "What the fuck are you gonna do to me? Huh?" He challenged Pyro. Built like a football player, with broad shoulders and not much neck; he obviously did not seem particularly intelligent. "Get the fuck out of my way."

Raising and eyebrow, Pyro stepped towards his assailant so that they were directly face to face. "Oh, I could do a lot of things. None of which you would like very much." Pyro growled, slowly holding up his lighter and flicking it open in the blink of an eye. The guy, Mike, snorted in that way that stupid people snort to make it look like they were laughing at you because they know more than you do. "What are ya gunna do, steal my smokes or somethin'? Gimme a break freak."

"I should warn you first..." Pyro commented offhand, looking pleased with himself. "But I don't really want to." Before Mike could comment, or even think about moving, the lighter was flicked open in Pyro's hand. The flame did not stay small, as light flames do, but grew. Grinning, Pyro (thoroughly earning his name), flicked the mass of fire so that it caught the center of Mike's white sweatshirt.

The flames licked up Mike's white shirt, eating it away from his skin and barely grazing his chest. He stumbled backward with an ill concealed scream of fright. The feminine portion of both sides wailed with shock, covering their mouths with their hands. The shock wore off rather quickly as almost all of the 'Wilmie's surged forward to avenge their comrade.

It was unclear who made the first blow but the fight sparked then caught on with all who were involved, bystanders and participants. Mutant and Human boys rolled around in a large brawl, their fists landing where ever they could find an opportune spot. Meanwhile the girls fought in a slightly more vicious fashion, false nails scraping into faces and clumps of hair being ripped from their heads as they grabbed hold of each other, emitting screams and hisses of an entirely animalistic nature.

Katie tried to grab a hold of the bitch that'd gotten behind her. One hand was yanking at her hair, bringing water to her eyes, the other groping for her neck. Managing to find the girl's hand, Katie (pissed off and in pain) shocked her. Feeling her convulse through the electric current, before finally collapsing in a faint (apparently Katie'd been a bit overenthusiastic and used a bit too much); she took a moment to survey the brawl. Hopefully a teacher would notice soon, before the Wilmies got too hurt... things were getting nasty.

Katie had just enough time to see that Kitty had Erica in a headlock and Bobby was freezing anyone who gained enough momentum to actually potentially hurt anyone before she was yanked into a huddle of brawling girls by the hair. Searing pain shot through her head as a good handful of hair was wrenched from her head. That's what it felt like anyhow. In truth it was only a small amount of hair that Kaylie ripped from Katie's scalp.

Katie screamed in pain. "Ah, oww! Someone get Scott!" she wailed, trying to escape the scratching talons and vise like grips of the girls.

Hillary heard Katie's plea and quickly elbowed a bitch in the ribs before sprinting into Cumberland Farms as fast as she could. "Scott!"

Scott had just finished paying for his coffee and scone (giving the empty picture slot in his wallet a guilty look), when a mostly unfamiliar voice yelled his name. "What?" Looking up, he saw one of Katie's friends run in, panicking.

"Scott!" She called again, making sure she got his attention. "There's this huge fight going on outside!"

Scott snapped to attention. "Fight? What do you mean, fight?" he said, quickly, his expression hardening.

Hillary's light eyes widened expressively, "A fight you know like:" she motioned punching someone and then motioned using a mutant power. "Like that."

Scott couldn't help but snort slightly before putting down his coffee and scone

, telling the cashier to guard them with his life, then followed Hillary outside. Outside was total mayhem. Adolescent Wilmington residents and the students were battling it out tooth and claw. The girls mostly, a few of them bleeding badly from the faces and necks from scratches, letting out screeches like banshees. "Oh shit."

Best thing to do first would be to break up the girls, he determined. They were the ones drawing blood, and looking as though they really did mean to kill each other. "That's** IT**! Break it up!" he yelled at them, trying to act officious enough to make them pay attention to him. Only one of the Wilmington girls, the one Kitty had just released from the headlock looked up at him.

"Who the fuck are you?" She asked calmly, before trying to get back to clawing out Kitty's eyes.

Scowling, Scott mentally made a note to do something about his 'officious' tone. It apparently did nothing. Striding forward, he grabbed a hold of the girl by the back of her shirt, holding her back. She screeched in protest, still trying to get a hold on Kitty's face. Scott growled, calming down enough to utter in her ear in an eerily calm voice: "I am, or could be, your worst nightmare. Kindly keep your hands to yourself."

The girl paused in her thrashing momentarily before shouting, "Fuck off you creep!" she shouted.

Scott sighed, violently hoisting the girl up by the back of her shirt to hang a few feet from the air, hoping to high heaven that the shirt was sturdy. The girl screamed, attracting everyone's attention. The boys separated from each other, glancing curiously up at the thrashing bitch in the air high above Scott's head. "Clear out! All of you! Students, get on the buses, NOW."

Katie picked herself up off of the ground gratefully, looking relieved as did most of the other students. Pyro, on the other hand, looked loathe to stop tormenting these arrogant bastards... but even he back down and made for the buses when Scott gave him a very unamused look, still holding the girl off of the ground.


	48. Chapter 48: Bruises

Inside the buses, talk about the fight was raging like fire. Pretty much all of the students who hadn't been involved said they'd wished they had, as they watched those "lucky enough" to be nearby try to do something about their minor injuries. Katie sat down in her seat, trembling all over, hand clamped to her bleeding cheek. Well, today was certainly interesting, wasn't it?

The students waited in dread, some trembling just as violently as Katie, and others staring straight ahead with a grim expression of foreboding. After clearing things up rather badly with the store managers and failing to get close enough to the afflicted human teenagers to be able to examine the damage and perhaps apologize, Scott returned to his bus.

His foot steps seemed to reverberate in the student's ears as he appeared at the head of the aisle, his face set and clearly pissed. Some cringed while he took a shuddering intake of breath. Scott sighed. "I'm disappointed in all of you. Getting into a fight with humans. Do you realize that if anyone of them had gotten critically hurt, you all would be in JAIL, with no trial because of your powers, rotting away in confined cells, subject to experiments the rest of your lives?!" he burst, glaring hard at each student in turn. "I have half a mind to convince the buses to turn around and go back to the school."

"They deserved it!" someone yelled from the back, before ducking down before anyone realized who it was.

"Whether they did or didn't, you need to realize the consequences! You can't go around using your powers on humans like that, and you're lucky that they aren't going to press charges!" Everyone had fallen silent by now, though it was a frosty, guilty silence.

Katie, sitting alone, felt the weight of the disapproving glare that he sent to each of them. Should she stand up and explain that it was all her fault?

Before Katie had made up her mind, Scott had given them one last prolonged glare and disappeared off of the bus to go explain to the other teachers why there was blood, ice, and various scorch marks on the pavement.

Slowly the buzzing murmur of students filled the bus. Would they really have to go home? Would they really have gone to jail? Katie did not join in, thinking to herself. She was filled with guilt that it had been all because of her, but also a rising irritation... why didn't he get that the humans had started it? Did he really think they were all that irresponsible?

She leaned over Scott's empty seat (how awkward would that be, when he got back? once he found out that it had been her fault, he'd probably refuse to speak to her for the entire trip). "Pyro," she called.

He looked up from telling an enthralled-looking girl about his greatly embellished role in the fight. "Yeah?"

She smiled at him, suddenly. "Thanks for that."

He grinned back at her. "It was my pleasure."

Scott reappeared on the steps of the bus, still looking deeply disappointed in them, though not quite as furious as he'd been before. Part of it, of course, had been him being terrified at the idea of one of his students ending up in jail... Sighing, Scott fell heavily into his seat, unable to suppress the obvious vibes of disappointment that he emanated in Katie's direction. Putting his coffee and scone down (he'd had to retrieve it from the disapproving clerk, which had been an adventure in and of itself).

Katie couldn't help but cringe away from the peeved Scott slightly. He didn't say a word to Katie, nodding to the bus driver letting him know that everything was good to go again. The bus engine roared to life and there was little confusion as to which bus would be leading so it took a few moments for them to finally pull away from the gas station and to get back on the road again. Eating the scone in a brooding silence, he drank his coffee while opening his book.

After sharing a few minutes of ominous silence with Scott, Katie turned to him to see that he as completely immersed in his book, Angels & Demons, and wasn't paying any attention to her in the slightest. Katie sighed, "Scott... It was my fault." She took a deep breath as he turned to look at her, afraid that she'd start babbling incoherently. And what she wanted most in the world right now was not to look stupid in front of him. "It was my fault... the fight and everything. The-the other kids noticed me, and they knew who I was, and decided to come over and start a fight... the other kids were just standing up for me... so you shouldn't go and punish everyone because of something that was my fault..."

Scott's face remained blank behind the glasses, and for a moment Katie longed to see what emotion brewed in those crystal clear eyes of his behind those glasses... Scott sighed through his nose; closing his book with a 'whump' (it was a good sized book). "That fight could have been solved in a much more reasonable manner. I don't care who started the fight or whose fault it is that the fight started- though I'm glad that you came forward and told the truth- That fight could have been avoided altogether or ended peacefully. Those who had participated in the fight are at their own fault for ever making up their minds to take part in it in the first place." he said, his voice taking on a gentler tone than it had earlier, though still retaining an officious, disappointed responsible adult tone.

"But," Kate burst, "But you still shouldn't punish everyone... If it weren't for me they wouldn't have-" she faltered when Scott held up a hand for silence.

He smiled reassuringly. "I'm not punishing anyone. We're still going to Salem aren't we?" he prompted.

Katie's face took on a look of utter surprise. "We are?"

His smile widened. "Yes, we are."

"Oh," she murmured, looking away and blushing. "I didn't realize..." She looked back at him, smiling a bit at her own silliness. This was looking at him straight-on, mind, instead of keeping herself tilted away out of a guilty conscience and the fact that he had been in full disapproving-adult mode. Thus, he noticed, for the first time, that she was bleeding a bit enthusiastically from a laceration on the other side of her face.

The smile slipped off of Scott's face like soap through wet fingertips. "Katie, what happened to you face?!" he blurted in alarm, reaching forward to wipe the blood that shone a sickeningly bright red compared to Katie's pale face.

A look of dawning comprehension overcame Katie's face as she realized what Scott was talking about, finally noticing the sharp sting that was throbbing in her cheek. Oh yes, she had forgotten about that... "Oh, uhm... one of the girl's had fake nails... she scraped me pretty badly..." she said, trying to shrug it off as if it didn't hurt like hell.

Scott frowned, "Well then I'll have to get the first aid kit from the head of the bus and we can get you cleaned up. I might do well to see if anyone else has had a run in with dangerously manicured nails…"

She nodded at him, doing her best not to dissolve into an idiotic-happy grin that he was back to talking to her. Watching him do just that, grabbing the first-aid kit with its cheerful emblazed red cross, she was fairly unaware of the stabbing pain. Happiness at his obvious sympathy and that he'd have to touch her face quite extensively worked nicely as anesthetic. The blood dripping down her cheek to work its way down her front was quite the nuisance, however.

Scott returned momentarily, silently working at the clasps of the first-aid kit until it popped open. He rustled through the various first-aid items until he came upon a box of band-aids, some cotton balls, and a small bottle of antibacterial ointment.

Katie meanwhile had put her hand under her chin to keep the rivulet of blood from drizzling down onto her chest (which was semi bare given the low scoop of her shirt). When Scott looked up to see this he grimaced, it was so disturbing, seeing such bright vital red blazing against her pale skin.

She twitched slightly as she felt a red droplet drip down onto her collarbone, and slide its cold, wet way down her chest. If that wasn't uncomfortable, nothing was...

Scott paused for a moment, trying not to stare. Should he try and catch that with one of his cotton balls? Or was that one of that much-to-close to feeling her up sorts of things?

Thankfully she reached up and wiped it off herself, pausing to give the red splash on her fingertips a morbid examination. She smiled awkwardly at him. "Can I have one of those cotton balls? Please?"

Scott nodded somewhat awkwardly. "'Course you can." he muttered softly, offering his large handful of cotton balls to her.

She smiled thankfully, accepting a cotton ball and dabbing at her cheek, chin, and chest. When she finished, she looked up at Scott somewhat expectantly, a fresh beading of blood appearing immediately. Scott resisted the shudder that yearned to rack his body, and sat down, not really knowing where to start. Biting his lip, Scott handed Katie some more cotton balls. "Press them against the cut really hard, pressure will help stop the bleeding enough so I can apply some of this ointment..." he instructed softly, waving the small tube of ointment slightly.

Katie did as instructed, biting her lip at the pain as she pressed the cotton balls against the cut. They waited a few minutes in an awkward silence. Removing the cotton balls, she looked at him. "Does this work?" Only a faint beading appeared this time, and he nodded at her.

"Yeah, that's fine. Can you tilt your head this way?" he tried to gesture in the direction he wanted, but Katie (as their rights and lefts were reversed, as they were looking at each other, and she wasn't all that adept at the whole right/left thing anyway), turned the other way. "No..." Gently he caught her chin in one hand, tilting it to the angle he needed. "Like that..."

"'Kay." Katie blushed, feeling Scott's thumb (accidentally or no) brush just beneath her lip gently before his hand left her face.

"Good, now don't move." he chuckled, squeezing a small amount of ointment on the tip of a forefinger. With his ointment-free hand, Scott cupped her chin and kept her head in place, and with his other he dabbed the ointment gently over the small laceration. He rubbed it into the cut as gently as possible, pausing to observe Katie's expression. "Does this hurt at all?"

She winced a little bit. Yes, it stung, but then, that's what all cleaning ointments tended to do. "No, I'm fine..." she lied, not wanting him to think that she couldn't take it or something. It's not like it hurt that badly, or anything. Though she was definitely enjoying the feeling of his warm hand on her face, yes indeed.

"Alright," he said rather distractedly, "Just making sure" he smiled warmly, swiveling ever so slightly to wipe his ointment-y forefinger on a cotton ball before grabbing a few band aids.

Katie allowed him to stick three of them over the long jagged scratch(es), sitting as still and quiet as a mouse, running her fingers over the band-aids lightly after he was finished. "Thank you." she said softly, smiling as best she could given the slight restraint given the band-aids.

Scott smiled in return, putting the first aid supplies neatly back into their box. "No problem. Any other afflictions that I might need to take a look at?" he queried.

Katie giggled, grinning slightly, "Well you know, I do have this bruise..." she joked.

"And where might this bruise be? I'll see what I can do," he replied, smiling at her warmly.

Katie just colored a bit, wondering if she dared make herself ridiculously obvious and point out her heart?

Thankfully, her deliberation was broken by Pyro calling out, "Hey, Scott, when your done over there can you spare me a band aid before I bleed all over the seat?" Pyro was one of the few other students that referred to the teacher so informally to his face.

Scott smiled, sending Katie an apologetic look. "We can deal with your bruise later okay?" he promised. Scott spent a good amount of time playing doctor to all of the student's ailments and when he had returned Katie was dozing lightly.

He sighed, having wanted to get around to her bruises before putting the first-aid kit away, but he returned it to its rightful place and took his seat.


	49. Chapter 49: On The Bus

The remainder of the trip was spent rather drowsily, and many students fell asleep. Heads heavily falling to rest on each other's shoulders, headphones blaring into un-aware ears. A few of the guys snored moderately near the back. Even Scott had dropped off to sleep, his limbs slackening, and resting his head back into the seat, not staying conscious long enough to feel Katie's head rest on his shoulder as the bus turned and shifted her position.

The bus rounded a sharp corner with a bounce, jolting some of the more half-asleep students back into wakefulness. Katie looked up blearily, half-awake. Looking around, she realized that she'd scooted over to the where the dividing armrests usually were (they'd moved them up to tend to her face), and was tightly curled up against Scott, head resting on his shoulder. Grinning to herself, she closed her eyes to go back to sleep without moving from her comfy position.

But before she did so, she looked up to observe Scott's slumbering face. On his face was an expression of complete peace, a small smile curving his lips from time to time. Katie couldn't help but sigh, grinning giddily. He was so adorable. She then snuggled closer, not wanting him to wake up before she could actually get away with falling back to sleep curled up so illegally close.

Scott, thankfully for Katie, did not stir for quite some time. He had not slept well lately, and the warm, close atmosphere of the bus was perfect for sending sleepy students or their teachers to sleep. But when he did, yawning and opening his eyes, he was more than surprised by the warm, soft form pressing itself against his side, head having slid down to rest against his chest. It was the closeness and pose of a lover, or at least a significant other, who had reason to be so trusting of the other's presence...

Scott's heart soared up and into his throat, choking away his gasp. He soon calmed down however, seeing that Katie didn't look as if she were about to wake up anytime soon. Cautiously, Scott placed a hand on Katie's head, sifting his fingers through her hair gently, letting his hand slide to stroke a pulse point just below her ear, enjoying the silken slide of her skin beneath his fingertips. He looked about him as inconspicuously as possible, trying to see if anyone was looking in their direction, only to find that almost everyone had fallen back to sleep with not so much as a stretch or a yawn.

Certain that he was safe; he gently ran his hand through her hair again, savoring the feeling. How often would he get a chance like this, with no one the wiser? It also furthered his certainty that whatever Nicole had said, Katie had no idea that he was Shade. If she knew, she'd hardly be this comfortable with him... rather; she'd probably avoid him like the plague. He froze again as she shifted, exhaling in relief as she settled back asleep. This definitely wasn't good for him.

Katie shifted in her sleep and Scott felt her bosom brush and push against his side before she settled again. Definitely not good for him at all... Katie sighed in her sleep, small hands reaching up to clutch at Scott's shirt, tickling the tense muscles beneath it. She pulled herself as close as humanly possible, nuzzling her face into Scott's chest, inhaling and exhaling loudly. He watched her, utterly amazed that she (asleep or not) could be so comfortable with him. Of course, she (hopefully) didn't have any idea why she shouldn't. But he knew, obviously, and it still amazed him. With another quick glance to make sure everyone else was still asleep, and let the hand that had been gently stroking her hair slide down, until he had his arm wrapped about her waist. She only snuggled closer, oblivious.

Scott sighed softly, a part of him scolded him for his slip in respect for student-teacher boundaries, but the other (the more dominant part) was enjoying her warmth. Scott failed to keep the smile off his face as drowsiness, as a result of Katie's comfy warm form clinging to him and the lulling purr of the bus engine, kicked in and his vision of the world slowly grew dark and fuzzy.

He yawned, and before he realized the inevitable, (and before he had the presence of mind to remove that incriminating arm) he'd fallen asleep.

- - -

**Bzzzt! Bzzzt!** Katie jerked awake, completely and totally confused. Something was vibrating in her pocket and sounding all too much like her alarm clock... wait a minute. Where was she and why was she so warm? What exactly was going on? Ignoring the irate beeping of her cell phone (which was what had woken her); Katie tried to concentrate her bleary, half-asleep mind on those pressing questions.

She tried to shift ever so slightly and found that she was somewhat trapped. She was pressed against something warm and soft, and something was loosely keeping her there. As her mind slowly became more aware that it was awake now, objects became clearer and more defined and she found that she was pressed against a completely and deeply asleep Scott. His head was tipped back and his mouth was open just a bit, he snored very lightly as his chest rose and fell with breath. His arm hung limply around her waist. He must have wrapped it around her waist in sleep, being attracted to the nearest source of heat and comfort. A part of her shivered pleasantly in response to his arm that kept her so close to him.

**BZZZT! BZZZT! **The phone continued to buzz at her, as though annoyed at being ignored (even though the fully adorable, very warm and sleeping Scott was some seven thousand times preferable). Groaning to herself, she eased it out of her pocket, and looked to see who was calling. Maybe if she hung up quietly she wouldn't wake up Scott? She looked at the number. Oh, damn. It was Nicole. What a hard choice...

Finally unable to avoid it any longer, Katie made a noise somewhere between a groan and a sigh of frustration, she shifted Scott's arm so that it went to where it belonged, (by his side and not around her). Then leaned away toward the window, and opening the flap of her violently vibrating phone to answer it. "Hello?" she inquired, soft enough as to not wake Scott, but loud enough so Nicole could hear her.

"Hey Katie" Nicole greeted, sounding raspy and very stuffed up.

"How're you doing?" Katie asked, still quiet. Scott had stirred briefly, but had settled back down. Maybe if the call was quick, she could manage to sneak over for another cuddle with him none the wiser?

"How dare you even ask me that question." Nicole commented, not sounding amused. Rather, she sounded hoarse and very sick.

Katie couldn't help but grin, "Sorry." she laughed, not sounding it at all, really. She heard a huff and the sounds of fabric shifting around on the other side followed by soft grumbles before Nicole actually decided to answer.

"Yes well, while you're all nice and comfy on a bus headed for Salem, here I am wallowing in my bed of sickness and disease, while Logan pops in periodically to annoy the hell out of me just for the thrill of it... Remember that when you're having fun." she grumbled, clearing her throat and coughing softly.

Katie couldn't help but giggle. How fun it must be, being sick AND alone in a huge mansion with Logan. "Oh but thinking of that would put a damper on everything." she baited, biting in a giggle when Nicole growled raspily.

"Yes, well that's my job, and if I'm not there to do it I'll do it in spirit."

Katie sighed theatrically. "Yes, it is your job. I'll do my best to think of you locked alone with Logan as I..." here she switched conversation topics. "Hey, guess who I've ended up sitting with? Since you had to go, and get sick and leave me alone and defenseless?"

Nicole groaned, "I'm bad at guessing gaaames... especially when I can't cheat and just read your mind. Damn long distances." she whined, not annoyingly mind you, but it was a whine none the less.

Katie rolled her eyes, grinning even more broadly.

Nicole sighed on her end of the phone, "Uhm... Pyro? If you are make sure you sit a good foot away from him, there's no telling what kind of diseases you may contract my just breathing near him." she ventured hopefully at first as though unsure of her natural guessing abilities, then plowing on powerfully her voice growing hoarser as she grew excited and she finally trailed off, hacking.

Katie rolled her eyes once again, glancing surreptitiously in Scott's direction. He remained contentedly asleep, though his mouth was closed now and he was breathing slowly and deeply. "Nope. Try again." she teased.

Nicole sighed, and Katie could just about picture her friend rolling her eyes, lying in bed all sick-like. "I don't know... someone attractive?" She offered, mental facilities not up to their usual capacity.

Katie, casting another glance in Scott's direction, grinned (though, as she was on the phone, Nicole couldn't tell). "Mmhm."

Ooh, can't you just tell me already..." Nicole began, before trailing off suddenly. "Wait a minute. Are you sitting with Scott??"

Katie was unable to suppress the rather girlish giggle that burst from her lips, "Maybe-" she sang.

She heard a rather loud outburst of frustration come from Nicole on the other side, "Oh, come off it Katie. I know that it's Scott now. 'Maybe'" she mocked in a girly voice. Well, as girly as a raspy sick person could make it without hacking uncontrollably (i.e. not very high and not very convincing). But that wasn't all Nicole had to say, "And you mean to tell me, that Scott's just sitting pretty next to you, and hasn't caught onto who you're talking about right now? You're sitting right next to each other after all."

"Well, I'm sure he would have caught on..."

"Would have?" Nicole interjected.

Katie trailed off, taking another glance at the peacefully sleeping Scott. "But he's sort of asleep right now. Like I was before you called and woke me up, loserface."

"So you and Scott are sleeping together now?"

Katie blushed, chancing another glance in the slumbering Scott's direction. Oh if only... "Well, if you want to look at it like that, fine. But it's a very poor joke." she chided, though she felt her cheeks burning as she stared determinedly out the window, though failing to watch the cars passing slowly by in the bad traffic and paying more attention to Scott's reflection more than anything.

Nicole snorted. "I wasn't joking. That's just a literal way to take it. "

"I know... but still. Its a little too close to anything I might be thinking of right now." Katie replied dryly, continuing to look at the reflection (but only so she'd know when to stop talking of course, or so she tried to tell herself).

"Pining away, are we?" Nicole asked.

Katie made a face into the window. "Only as much as you are. I wonder why Logan hasn't already staked out his side of the bed..."

Nicole laughed weezily, "Hmm... he might not have given the fact that my bed wouldn't fit him all by himself, never mind me too. His legs would hang off the end. Besides, he's got himself a good-sized bed, I doubt he would ever want to sleep anywhere else. I wouldn't if I were him, anyway." she replied, just by the tone of her voice, Katie could tell that Nicole had shrugged somewhere during her statement.

She smirked at her reflection, "Yes well, you'd be surprised at some of the things people do when they're madly in love." she hinted. Oh, it was so much fun to tease Nicole, especially when she was in a weakened state. She was less likely to say rather nasty things back, given the fact that her brain wasn't working properly.

Nicole groaned, and Katie could practically hear her debating hanging up. "You're not very nice."

Katie just chuckled at her friend. "You're the one who called me!"

Before Nicole could say anything else, Katie heard the door open in the background. "How sick can you really be if you have the energy to call someone?" She could dimly hear a rather put-out sounding Logan complain.

Katie was just barely capable of holding back her laughter as she heard them both preparing for an argument, feeling the tension stretch as though she stood in the room with them. "Very sick indeed. Sick of you coming in to check on me every 5 seconds! And since when is it your business whether I'm well enough to be concerned about the well being of my friend?" Katie heard Nicole snap, she could practically see Nicole's scowl just from the tone in her voice.

Katie distantly heard Logan huff in an annoyed fashion, his response was rather faint given the fact that he wasn't exactly talking directly into the phone. Katie would be rather worried if he were, that would most likely mean that he was within a rather unnervingly close proximity to her unwell friend. "Since you've been put under my jurisdiction, and since I'm now technically responsible if anything unpleasant were to befall you while talking on the phone." his response came lowly, apparently he was growling. He didn't sound happy.

Katie heard Nicole growl deep in her throat. Then again, she might have just been clearing her throat. It was hard to tell, given Nicole's raspyness. "Your jurisdiction, what am I, a sick person or a criminal, _officer_."

Katie, stifling a giggle, could hear the smirk in Logan's voice. "Well," He drawled, "You have been a rather bad girl..."

This time, Katie failed to muffle it. "Hahaha! What's next, him threatening to punish you? Really, if you're going to get all kinky on me, can you at least do it so I don't hear? I'm gonna be scarred for life or something..."

"Katie!" Nicole squealed, her voice breaking rather roughly from it's rasp into a loud squeak. She spluttered afterward, seeming to either choke on her words with embarrassment or because of a cough attack. Katie shrugged, forgetting that Nicole couldn't see her. "Well, you two are rather obvious; I wouldn't be surprised if you're both humping like rabbits when you're well enough. By the way, I wouldn't doubt if you start feeling better in a matter of 24ish hours." she commented dryly.

Logan was asking what Katie was saying because Nicole was 'shush'-ing him, apparently trying to hear what Katie was saying.

"You're turning beet red." she heard Logan state stubbornly, "I swear, I'll cut the cord if Katie's inappropriate comments are bothering you that much, that shade of red can't possibly be healthy for you right now.."

Katie burst out into laughter again, also at her friend's expense. "Logan showing actual concern for your health and well being? Or is it just that if you kick the bucket, he'll have to explain that you died while he was responsible for you? Or maybe it's actual caring…? Love works in mysterious ways..." She had the feeling that if Nicole had been able to kick her, she would have, and very hard at that.

Katie heard Nicole go on, she had most likely chosen to not respond to Katie's comment, "Chill, given the fact that you're what, 45? 50? You might just burst an artery or something at your old age, and if you do, I'm not about to mop you up." Nicole declared blandly, "Besides, if you die, who will be here to take care of me? Unfortunately, I need you."

Katie giggled, then giggled still more loudly when she heard Logan quite clearly burst, "Oh, old am I? Well, we'll see how you feel about that once this 'old' man really doesn't feel like taking care of you any more." he threatened.

Katie heard Nicole begin to retort suddenly, slightly confusingly since Katie couldn't actually see what was going on. "No- don't!" The dial tone blared in Katie's ear.

Katie sat there, eyeing the dead connection, laughing to herself. Oh, Nicole and Logan... what a pair. She'd be quite surprised to find the school still standing when they got back if things continued at that rate. Hopefully the mutual sexual attraction would keep them occupied and out of trouble?

Looking around, she realized that the bus had left the highway, and was now nearing an inviting-looking hotel. "Maybe we're here already?" She commented to herself, mildly puzzled and entirely distracted from her contemplation of Nicole's "field trip".

"Seems like it." Scott replied, his voice was quite close to her ear, close enough to bathe both it and her neck in warmth. Katie jumped slightly, alarmed at the very close Scott, who appeared to be leaning over her in an attempt to get a good look at the hotel. After a moment's observation, he came to a conclusion. "Yes, that's it, one of the Hilton Branches. It was the only hotel in the area that was willing to let a whole school full of mutants reside in it."

"I wonder why the others were so reluctant..." Katie commented, enjoying the feeling of having him so close. He was still leaning over her, breath on the back of her neck, making her shiver in enjoyment. Oh, sitting next to him definitely had it's perks!

Scott chuckled at her comment, it sounded even better when heard from so close up (again, she shivered. He'd probably start thinking she had some sort of twitching problem, at this rate). "Well, having a 'headmaster' that is both rather wealthy, and an incredible telepath has its perks when we run out of options..." he laughed, never pulling back.

Their breath fogged up the glass; Scott reached over her and wiped it away so that they could see the hotel properly as it became larger and clearer as they neared. Katie's heart jumped up into her throat momentarily before settling back into its rightful place, though it was a lot more fluttery than a heart was meant to be. It acted more like a butterfly than a heart, but Katie didn't mind. Whatever side effect came about from Scott's nearness was worth it, as far as she was concerned.

Scott's own heart was not exactly calm either. He was much too close right now; close enough to smell her hair. Why did he need to invent these situations, just as an excuse to touch her? Shouldn't he be mature enough to simply stay away? _Why bother? _one of those icky back-of-the-mind voices piped up. _You know you'll give in eventually. Why not sooner rather than later? Save yourself the pain._.. He ignored it, staying where he was, arm looped around her to continue unfogging the glass.

When he pulled his arm away, finally finished de-fogging the glass, Scott couldn't help but sigh in frustration when it simply fogged up again.

Katie laughed softly, drawing a comical smiley face in the fog. Scott chuckled, leaning over her once again to add to the masterpiece, adding a halo. Katie immediately drew horns underneath it, her finger squeaking slightly as her finger wiped the condensation away from the cool glass.

He chuckled again, and Katie grinned up at him, both enjoying the mutual cute moment immensely. Of course, to anyone else, their grinning ridiculously at each other, so close together, would have seemed some sort of dead giveaway. That is, if anyone paid them any attention, which they didn't.

Unfortunately for them, as the bus pulled into the parking lot. Katie blushed and looked away, twirling a lock of hair about her finger, as he got up (more reluctantly than he made apparent) and made his way to the front. It was his job, as teacher/adult, to check in and pick up the room keys, ect, for his busload of children.

---

Coke- Really sorry about how long its taking! Just bear with us, please. We have stuff written, its just our shedules getting in the way. So please, please be patient!


	50. Chapter 50: A Chance Meeting

There was a great shuffle and numerous groans as the groggy students got up and stretched, making to follow Scott from the bus. Katie sighed, bending to gather her things, then shuffled to enter the queue to exit the bus. As she entered the queue, Pyro called from some two or three students away, "Hey, Katie! Did you miss me up there all alone with the teacher?"

Katie smiled and rolled her eyes at him. "Of course I did, Pyro. Just pining away without you," She replied, her tone was obviously non-serious. After all, she'd rather sit with Scott than with Pyro, not that he should ever know...

Pyro grinned, "Aww, I hope you weren't too miserable... Did you get any naps in at all?" he continued, his voice taking on the same falsely sweet and soothing tone it had after she had broken up with Arch...

Katie rolled her eyes, sighing silently. She really didn't want to talk to Pyro, but given the fact that Scott was no longer within snuggling distance it was inevitable. Even if he were, the fact that she wanted to snuggle with him wasn't exactly all that comforting of a thought for Katie. She shouldn't even want these things in the first place... Yes, she should know better than to pine after Scott like this, when it would be so bad for him to have any of it come true. But it was hard not to... "I slept practically the whole time... you know, not having anyone as stimulating as you to have a conversation with." Though she was rather sure Pyro's idea of "conversation" involved copious amounts of kissing with tongue.

After the brief exchange of words between them, nothing else was said as the students filed out of the bus and into the cool early evening air. The buses were parked in a large vacant parking lot a little ways away from the large hotel. The hotel towered above them, the lights behind the windows were glowing an invitingly warm shade of orange yellow, and the walls reflected the just setting sun on its west side blindingly.

The students gathered around the opening in the buses' under belly, watching as Professor Wagner, nicknamed Nightcrawler, teleported to each student in turn with his or her luggage, with a pointy toothed grin and a twinkle in his amber eyes. His dark blue skin shone an odd bright blue in the light of the setting sun. Professor Wagner handed Katie her luggage after a short while, appearing in a puff of thick blue smoke with a sound like a particularly loud huff of breath. She thanked him, accepting her things from his outstretched three-fingered hands.

"Thank you, Kurt", she smiled, calling him by his first name only because he insisted his students do so. Well, whenever he was feeling well and whenever Logan wasn't filling in for him, that is.

"You're very valcome", he answered, grinning back, his 'devil's tail' swishing in an almost happy- dog fashion.

Katie sighed to herself as she began towing her luggage towards the hotel door, joining the students who had received their luggage and were going inside. That was definitely the problem with the teachers at Xavier's... they were much too nice. Glancing about the fairly crowded lobby, she looked around for Scott. Of course, it was the ruby sunglasses glinting in the crowd that made him stand out. Most people that owned red sunglasses didn't wear them in September, and usually not inside.

Catching sight of her he beckoned, handing her a plastic 'key' with the other hand. "Here's your room key... Room 311, and you're rooming with..." he consulted a list of roommates and room numbers. "Kitty. She hasn't been here yet, so you get the first look at your room. I'll be in 306, just down the hall, with Kurt if you need anything." He gave her a warm but somewhat harried smile, pointing her off in the direction of the elevators.

Katie smiled sympathetically in return, feeling bad for the poor flustered Scott. He always did all of the leader-ly things, even when he deserved a break. Especially if said break would get him landed with her. But Katie sighed as she placed her hand on the cool metal doors as they shut despite her call of "Hold the elevator!" after sprinting to it.

Unfortunately the elevator man only grinned sardonically before closing the doors, even though no one was in the elevator with him. She groaned. The hotel managers may have agreed to allow mutant students to occupy the building, but it was quite clear that many of the employees weren't happy about it. Now that she though about it as she looked around, she received many disgusted glances from a few of the girls at the front desk, and quite a few random strangers.

However, one elderly man caught her eye. He wore a hat and a rather well kept tan suit and tie. His blue eyes twinkled oddly as he spared her a smile, tipping his hat as he passed, revealing peppery gray hair. His metal suitcase seemed to follow him as if on an invisible leash. _Well, at least we're not the only mutants here_... Katie thought slightly cheerfully. However, the elderly gentleman's smile was rather disconcerting, it gave her an odd foreboding sensation...

He came over and stood next to her, giving her a knowing smile as they waited for the elevator. She smiled back tentatively, and they didn't speak.

The elevator man returned once he realized that he couldn't leave them there forever, though he didn't look happy about it. In fact, he was almost cowering in the corner, acting as though they didn't exist.

After pressing the buttons for their respective floors, complete silence settled between the two mutants comfortably. The elderly gentleman continued to smile, almost as though considering a thought that he rather liked, and didn't look or speak to Katie for a short while. After the brief silent pause, the man shifted, turning to face Katie. "So my dear, what wonderful power are you blessed with? I know full well that you are from a mutant school, other wise such fine employees," he paused, shooting a withering look in the elevator man's direction, "would not be making such a fuss about serving such find young people as yourselves. On the contrary, normally young people are quite a profit to the Hotel business..."

Katie blushed a little, slightly uncomfortable, but she liked the phrasing he'd used, 'being blessed with'. "Electricity. Here she was seized with an urge to call him 'sir I can generate it, and control it in the walls and things. You can manipulate metal, can't you? I saw your," she pointed to his suitcase "moving along with you." The elevator-man looked like he was hoping that they'd get off really soon, and was trying not to listen in.

The elderly gentleman chuckled richly, "Ah, yes. Such an observant girl you are, yes I can manipulate metal and magnetic force fields... To put it this way, if I felt like it, I could crumple this elevator like you would a scrap of tinfoil." he said airily, looking about the metal elevator as though almost considering doing it.

Katie laughed somewhat nervously. Could he really?

The man laughed again, looking back at Katie. "I could even levitate myself up the stairs and to my room. But, I'm rather sentimental; sometimes it's more interesting to do it the hard way. You never know who you'll meet along the way."

She grinned back at him. "No, you never do know." The elevator dinged, as it paused at the second floor to pick up a maid, who took one look at them and decided that she'd wait for a different elevator. "May I ask your name?" She asked him politely, as the door closed.

He chuckled again, tipping his hat upward and scratching his scalp momentarily. He nodded, "Yes you may. My name, is Eric, Eric L-"

DING! The elevator halted on the third floor and the doors whooshed open. Katie hesitated, and then lugged her things out of the elevator after receiving quite a nasty look from the elevator man. Eric smiled, eyes sparkling once more. "Well then my dear, enjoy your school trip. Perhaps we shall meet again," he said in a gentle final tone.

Katie smiled, "Alright, it was nice meeting you, Eric" she sighed; making eye contact until the doors shut and the elevator proceeded up. Sighing, Katie turned around to face a very lovely red and gold argyle carpeted hallway lined with dark wooden doors, crystal doorknobs glinting in the brilliant lighting. Katie's slight disappointment at having to leave such a kindly old man evaporated. Looking down at her small key, she began to walk down the hallway comparing the room numbers with the small, engraved numbers in her key. Room 311 was near the end of the hall, some three doors down and across from 306 (as Katie did look to see the relative distance). Inserting her key in the slot, she opened the door.

The room was very attractive-looking, even for a hotel. The walls were a gentle shade of metallic gold; the bed sheets were a dark, royal red. The bathroom, she discovered, was lovely as well, as fancy as most hotel bathrooms look when compared to the ones at one's house. "This is a nice room," she commented to herself, plopping down and bouncing on one of the beds. She claimed the one closest to the window, dropping her bag on the floor.

Sighing happily, with a silly grin of happiness, Kate flopped backward onto the bed. She sighed as the mattress accepted her, softly embracing her back and cradling her on a cloud of comfort. "Mmmm... comfy..." she moaned, grinning even more giddily before. If only Nicole were here... she definitely would have something interesting to say about comfortable beds. Most likely something about how they would be all the more comfortable if they came with men. And Nicole would be most certainly right. Such comfy beds would definitely be even better if they came with attractive men attached.

She rolled to her side and buried her face in the pillow with a sigh. But, of course, given who her attractive man of choice was, she'd never get that chance. Unless of course, Nicole was right. And that did happen every now and then...

Katie sighed again, if Nicole was right about Scott being Shade...Well, it would be both flattering and slightly weird at the same time. Given that Scott didn't seem to be that expressive about his feelings outwardly...and he was sweet and kind. Shade was sweet and sexy and had a way with words... but, if it were Scott behind those words…? Well it would be very nice, but Katie simply couldn't see Scott thinking those types of things. Then again, if Nicole was right about men's need for something soft and sweet in their arms... it could be entirely possible... And, now that she thought about it, he did act less like a teacher around her... Katie shivered all over lightly. It was a very pleasant thought, Scott being Shade, at least until she tried to really comprehend him having such dirty (though not entirely unwelcome) thoughts about her... She shivered again. It was just so hard to reconcile the two: Shade's openness, and Scott's general aloofness.

Before Katie could contemplate this subject any more, Kitty walked right through the door interrupted her. When Kitty caught sight of Katie she grinned. "What's the point in duct taping the doors shut when I can just walk right through them?" she laughed. Kitty fell silent, her mouth hanging open. "Whoa. What a spiffy room we've got..."

"Isn't it?" Katie commented back, getting up off of the bed to start unpacking. Kitty dropped onto her own bed as well, bouncing in its fluffy covers. "I'll take these three drawers; you can have those three, alright?" Katie offered, sorting her stuff into the drawers.

"Sure", Kitty agreed, and with that the conversation petered off.

Reaching the bottom of the bag, Katie paused. She'd brought Scott's sweatshirt with her. But, given that she'd slept in it for a week, it really didn't smell like him. And he had to be worrying why she hadn't given it back yet... "D'you think Scott's done giving out keys to the other kids yet?" Katie mused aloud.

Kitty jumped at Katie's inquiry. She had been staring at the wall, her eyes glazed. She shrugged, "I s'pose so. I mean, it shouldn't take that long to pass out keys. Mr. Wagner was helping Scott so I suppose it would take less time to pass them out if you could just teleport the keys to the students." she mused, smiling.

Katie smiled in return, nodding and standing up. Well, if she didn't have anything else better to do at the moment-her unpacking was finished anyway- she could return Scott's sweatshirt. It would also give her an excuse to go and visit Scott... "Good, I just need to give him something." Katie muttered, grabbing Scott's sweatshirt and carrying it with her out of the room, hugging it to her chest.

Her heartbeat pounded in her chest. What if Scott wasn't there? She would be disappointed of course, but at the same time... it would give her a bit more time to sleep in his sweatshirt before returning it... She made her way quickly to 306. With a deep, calming (sort of) intake of breath, she knocked three times on the door. She heard some rustling from the inside of the room. "Hold on a moment-" came Scott's slightly muffled voice. Katie's heart leapt into her throat. He was there.


	51. Chapter 51: Pleasant Informalities

Katie she waited the few moments it took him to open the door, shifting from foot to foot. What should she say? Should she try and explain why it took her so long to return it, or just hand it to him? Should she say anything about how often she wore it, or just apologize for not getting it washed first?

The door opened, and Scott stood there, looking as though he'd finally been sitting down to relax after dealing with the not-so-terribly-pleasant hotel employees. He still managed one of his trademark, warm, knee-melty smiles, however. "Katie... is there something wrong?" he asked, puzzled by her presence.

Katie blushed, catching herself before she burst "Never mind!" and ran. She shook her head 'no'.

He sighed, leaning comfortably in the doorframe. "That's a relief... I've had to deal with these assholes for a good half hour and gotten about a million 'sir, this is a hotel, kindly remove your sunglasses, you don't need them" 's in the past ten minutes." he groaned, running his fingers through his hair and rumpling it so that it stood on end in odd places. Very cute. "So if anything were wrong, I'd probably explode, or implode. Whichever is more unpleasant." he finished, grinning slightly.

Katie laughed. "Well, I wouldn't want you to explode into Scott confetti..."

His grin widened. "Its nice to know someone doesn't want me to explode." There was a short pause, Katie tried to fight down the urge to give him a giant, sympathetic hug and give his hair a good ruffle.

"Well, I didn't come to give you any more problems to solve... just to, eh, give you back your sweatshirt..." She held it out to him, biting her lip. "Sorry it took me so long... I was going to put it through the wash or something first, but I kept forgetting." On purpose, of course. It was simply too much fun to sleep in the sweatshirt, the closest she'd ever gotten to sleeping in his arms.

Scott smiled, "That's fine, I don't mind. To tell you the truth, I almost forgot that you had it..." he chuckled, running his fingers through his hair again, accepting the sweatshirt with the other hand.

Katie blushed. Well, if he had forgotten she could have gotten some more use out of it! Damn.

Scott did a very unexpected thing, lifting the sweatshirt to his nose and inhaling deeply. He grinned, tucking the sweatshirt under his arm, "Besides, if you had washed it, then it wouldn't smell like you anymore..."

Katie was absolutely floored. She stood there, blinking at him, entirely uncomprehending. He wanted his sweatshirt to smell like her? "Th-thanks?" She squeaked out after what felt like an eternity, blushing deeply. Besides making a part of her wonder if maybe Nicole hadn't been right, it made her feel ridiculously good about herself and the way she smelt.

Scott's grin faded into a fairly calm expression, though the smile that remained failed to disappear. "Uhm, d'you want to come in? I'm just in the middle of unpacking... If you'd like to have a talk or something... you must be quite lonely since Nicole's not here." his grin returned at the end of his sentence as he mentioned Nicole.

Katie smiled, her blush (if it was possible) even darker and higher on her cheeks. "Uhm... sure, I'll come in... And yes, it does suck that Nicole's not here. Not that I don't like Kitty or anything... but Nicole." she sighed as she entered the room, Scott who had been standing aside to let her, shut the door behind her.

"But you and Nicole are inseparable? Yes, I've noticed" he chuckled.

"Well, it's what happens you know... we were really good friends before, being the only mutants and all..." Scott's room was, if possible, nicer than hers. Or at least it was a bit larger, though that could have been all in her head. Katie sat down in one of the comfy chairs (it would have been a bit too suggestive to right down on his bed. And she wasn't brave enough for that). "And we already knew each other before transferring, so it just got worse. Or better, depending on how you look at it."

Scott nodded, smiling sympathetically. He moved toward his bed, on which an open suitcase was laid, some of its contents were sitting in piles on the bed next to it as if Scott were about to put them away before Katie knocked. He bustled around putting things away. Putting a comb, his visor, and an extra pair of sunglasses on the bedside table. All the while he spoke to her, as though it were normal for her to sit and watch him unpack his personal possessions and have a conversation at the same time. "Naturally you and Nicole already had a bond, though a slightly strange one. You two have arguments often, don't you? I've seen you two sitting at opposite ends of the table at dinner then by the next morning be completely made up... "

"Well... we have different personalities, obviously... so there's a conflict every now and then. And it's never about anything important, so of course we manage to make up." Katie shrugged, though he had his back to her at the moment. Her relationship with Nicole was definitely not quite as weird as her relationship with Scott. They didn't have a relationship, did they? It was odd. She would have been confused as to whether he actually liked her or just felt sorry, but then he said things like the sweatshirt-bit, or acted as though they had a real, comfortable friendship going. "I don't think its that strange... I mean, all friends fight sometimes."

Scott turned to his suitcase again picking up a pile of socks, white T-shirts, and boxers and quickly stowing them into a conveniently near drawer. Then he turned to Katie once more, sitting on his bed for a moment. "Well, no. I suppose its not all that strange, but Its a little strange how you two haven't branched out at all, given that you're with kids of your own kind and age group now. That's all", he mused, shrugging then getting up once more. He seemed not to want to stay still. He flashed a smile at her before stowing the rest of his not particularly embarrassing articles of clothing in another drawer, then putting his suitcase in a small closet to the right of his bed.

Katie considered his comment. Well, yes they hadn't branched out... in fact, Katie hadn't even thought of really making any other friends other than Nicole. Though that certainly was an option... but it was sort of nice having only a small circle of friends (a somewhat complicated circle now that Arch was no longer her boyfriend... but he would get over her... right? They could become just good friends... right?) "Having Nicole to confide in. It's nice. Instead of having a huge, complicated, group of friends..."

Scott came to sit in front of her, on the very end of his bed, resting his head in his hands. He smiled, "Well, when you put it that way..." he chuckled, shrugging. Katie smiled, and Scott's lips spread into that wonderful, knee-melting grin once more and Katie was quite immediately glad that she was sitting. No matter how uncomfortable she felt.

He got up once more and Katie couldn't help but giggle behind her hand in slight amusement before he turned to her with a slightly quizzical look on his face. He raised a brow, and then seemed to decide against commenting. Instead he inquired, "Would you like a drink or anything? I've got some water bottles in the little refrigerator they've supplied," he offered, moving over to a small icebox that Katie had over looked. It was situated in the small space between the two separate bedside tables of the two teachers (slightly larger than Katie and Kitties') beds. "And you don't mind if I pull the shades...? My glasses are starting to give me a headache and the hotel put in shades similar to mine as a safety precaution..."

"Of course I don't mind!" She exclaimed earnestly. Why would she mind? She'd get to see his eyes, and its not like there was anything out the window worth seeing anyway. Just more parking lot bordered by vaguely brooding-looking trees.

"Thanks", as he was wrestling with the shades, she got up and made her way to the fridge.

"Would you like a drink? I can get you one while you're busy."

Her legs screaming as she stretched them stiffly, Katie moved to cross the room. She knelt before the small icebox and opened it, a cool draft of air playing over her knees. She shivered ever so slightly while goose bumps rose. The contents of the small refrigerator consisted of three bottles of spring water, and several of those small complimentary bottles of champagne, and a half of an orange wrapped in cling wrap. She took out two of the three bottles of water, and then turned around to face Scott, to see him turning away from the shaded windows, removing his sunglasses. His eyes remained closed for a short while as he massaged his temples gingerly, sighing.

She resisted the urge to sigh heavily as well, watching him. Poor Scott... it wasn't his fault that he had those headaches, and needed special, high tech shades to keep himself from blowing holes in people and/or furniture. He didn't deserve that, poor guy. So she stood there, watching him as he finished massaging his temples, and began very carefully opening one eye. When nothing adverse happened, he looked up at her, eyes all sparkly and wonderful as he smiled at her.

Katie held in a gasp. Scott's eyes flashed a bright blue/violet in the artificial lamplight in the room. It wasn't exactly unusual for a blue-eyed person to have their eyes shift colors slightly depending on the lighting. In fact, considering what other things that Scott's eyes were capable of doing, the slight color change was practically normal. Katie couldn't help but note that the violet had such a lovely effect on his warm smile…

It made Katie's knees feel more Jell-O like than usual. Katie gave herself a few seconds to admire Scott's amethyst-esque eyes before mentally shaking herself from her stupor, and willing her legs to cease their wobbling in order to move forward to hand Scott his bottle of water. He smiled, gratefully accepting the cool bottle, and pressed it to his forehead as he sat down on his bed. Katie sat down across from him on the (slightly more comfortable than a chair) second bed opposite him. She removed the cap and took a sip of her water, her mouth felt dry all of a sudden…

Scott tried to ignore Katie for a few seconds more as he soothed his temples, rolling and pressing the cool bottle to each painfully pulsating point. A part of him desperately wanted to avoid temptation and to send her away; while the other longed to have her remain and keep him company… he needed someone to talk to. His internal turmoil made his temples throb even more painfully. When the pain faded he sighed in relief, finally glancing up to see Katie shifting comfortably on Nightcrawler's assigned bed.

Their eyes met, and she smiled._ Their eyes __met_…. He couldn't help but grin at this prospect, feeling rather cheerful after such a very horrible experience with irritable and biased staff, to look right into her eyes and have her acknowledge that he did so. "So, how do you like the hotel?" He asked in a rather cheerfully cynical manner, "They're very friendly people, the staff, aren't they?" he chuckled rather ironically, unscrewing the bottle cap and taking a sip of water, never breaking eye contact. It was nice, eye contact that is…

Katie's eyes crinkled slightly at the corners as her soft giggle of amusement stroked the increasingly (sometimes maddeningly) tender spot that he had developed for her. Scott nearly choked on his sip of water as the butterflies in his stomach started up again.

Katie, taking another careful sip of her water (terrified she'd do something stupid like spill it on herself and look like an idiot in front of him), was enjoying the eye contact as well. It was such a nice change, being able to see his (gorgeous!) eyes and really know that you were making eye contact with him. Oh, he had no idea, did he? How much she longed for those eyes to show her an emotion they never would?

Swallowing the heavy, admiring sigh until it was nothing more than a light exhale, she smiled ironically herself. "Yes, they are… I had an elevator man be kind enough to close his doors on me, even though there wasn't anyone else in the elevator." She took another careful sip, biting the urge to giggle simply because he made her happy. "Though I did meet a rather nice man she hadn't wanted to describe him as old; that seemed a bit mean who was waiting for the elevator too." Katie usually wasn't the type for prolonged eye contact, and with anyone else it would have creeped her out by now. But, this being Scott after all, she didn't mind too much. It was just so very easy to lose herself in those eyes, drowning in the blue/violet…

Scott rose his eyebrows a fraction of an inch. "A nice man? A nice hotel staff member? Or do you mean just a normal guy?" he queried, his voice sounded sort of funny to Katie, constricted and concerned.

Katie shrugged; it really wasn't that big of a deal to her. " Well I wouldn't call him 'normal'. He was a mutant too... he was uhm... well I wouldn't call him old, but he was on the elderly side. He had gray/white hair that sort of thing... But he had a cool metal suitcase that he made to follow him around. He could manipulate metal and magnetic forces..." she said, her voice becoming more and more animated as she saw Scott was listening intently, with an interested expression. She wondered for a moment why he looked so interested, but continued anyway. Maybe the hotel staff was so very boring that she seemed really thrilling by comparison? "He was really nice, though. Said his name was Eric. Eric L-something, I don't know, the door closed on the other half of his sentence. He looked a bit Jewish, maybe Levine? Something like that? But, yeah. He sort of made up for the irritating elevator-man." She paused for another sip of water.

Scott nodded, his face a mask of thought. He scratched his chin, apparently thinking. "You're sure that he said his name was Eric?" he inquired after a while, quite suddenly, making Katie jump slightly at the abruptness of the question.

She nodded fervently, "Mmhmm. He was just beginning to tell me his last name before we got to my floor and the elevator man gave me a nasty look. I got out and he didn't tell me the rest... he just said to have a good time on my school trip..." she explained. As Katie explained this to him, Scott broke their eye contact, looking slightly concerned.

He glared at the wall to his left (Katie's right) apparently deep in thought. He stood slightly and he began pacing. Before Katie could coax the reason for his concern from Scott however, with a loud PFFF Kurt appeared in a puff of blue smoke.

"Scott," he said, temporarily unaware of Katie. His amber eyes shone brightly in Scott's direction. " I saw..."

"Magneto?" Scott offered, finishing Nightcrawler's sentence for him, who nodded in agreement. "Katie", Scott gestured towards the hitherto unnoticed girl, "was just telling me about how she ran into him in the elevator".

Katie nodded as well, and Kurt smiled at her. "Only," she added, blushing a little and looking a bit awkward (and more than a little surprised to find out his identity), "I didn't know who it really was". So that nice old man she'd had a conversation with was really Magneto? She never would have guessed, never would have pegged him for the extremist that he was. But that was the whole point, wasn't it? Magneto wasn't really a "bad guy", not in the comic-book sense of right and wrong. Just someone who had a different view from their own. Thinking that the two adults would probably prefer to discuss this sort of thing without a student hanging around, she took it as her cue to leave. "I guess I'd better go, then. Thanks for letting me hang around?" She offered to Scott, getting up and starting for the door (more than a little reluctantly. She'd been having such a wonderful time staring off into Scott's eyes longingly...)

Scott looked up from exchanging extremely perturbed glances and concerns with Nightcrawler. He looked slightly let down, the eyes that would melt thousands of hearts if only they had the chance shone with disappointment. He nodded, sighing heavily, his hand moving to massage his temples once more. "Yes well, its dinner time anyway, you had better head down to the hotel dining room before you get seated with someone you really don't want to sit with." he shrugged.

Katie smiled sympathetically, really wishing that she could stay just a little longer. Scott really did seem sort of... well, lonely. He didn't deserve it, the poor guy. She allowed herself to put as much affection into her smile as was (not entirely) 'allowed' (i.e. a lot) before she left the room.

She laughed slightly when Nightcrawler waved slightly enthusiastically, grinning. "Save me un seat. I suppose zat no one vould vant to seet with a man with a devil tail...Oh und Scott too. He can't seet all by himself either!"

Katie nodded. "Okay!"

---

_Authors' Note:_ Hello! Terribly, terribly sorry to be so late... the last bit of school is always the most stressful! Well, Rum and I have gotten out at last, and so we ought to be doing some serious catching up. To keep you all amused, we're having a contest!

-Self-inserted characters are practically a norm for fanfictions. First person to PM us correctly matching Rum and I with our respective self-inserted characters, will win a cameo!

It won't be as another schoolmate or a reccuring character, but it won't be a "and this chick walked by" sort of thing either. You'll get a few lines, and the satisfaction of inclusion.

Good luck!


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